You Saved My Life And Not Just Once
by Anno1701
Summary: During the final battle, Voldemort told Nagini to kill Severus Snape. What do you think would have happened if someone saved his life? And what would the others think if Hermione Granger was that person? And he fell in love with her? What do you think would happen? Come and get to know it SEVERUSxHERMIONE
1. Prologue

**So this is my new story. I just had the idea a few hours ago and wanted to write it so badly that I couldn't wait. I hope you like the first chapter and I would be really glad to get some reviews, not just about the prologue but also about the idea in general :) Everything you know isn't mine, but the things you don't have read before belong to me  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

Hermione POV

The air in the Shrieking Shack was cold.

But that didn't matter. I had been feeling cold since the start of the battle a few hours ago.

Many terrible things had happened and we just succeeded at destroying one Horcrux, so there still was Nagini, the snake of Voldemort, and that made it impossible for us to kill him. We didn't have the sword of Gryffindor. Gryphook had stolen it and so we couldn't get it back. But Ron and I had the idea to go to the chamber of secrets to get some basilisk fangs and thanks to Ron we were successful. Harry was also very happy about it, even though he was angry, too, because we didn't tell him where we had been going. And then we killed the part of Voldemort's soul which was living in the diadem of Ravenclaw.

The snake.

Harry had looked into Voldemort's mind and saw that he was in the Shrieking Shack, together with the snake. And he wanted to see Severus Snape.

Suddenly, I heard a voice in front of us.

"I have a problem, Severus." Voldemort said softly and I exchanged looks with Harry and Ron. We had to be very careful. Even though Voldemort was distracted because he was speaking with Snape, he was still the most dangerous wizard in the world and Nagini could find us, too. The thought that something could happen to my best friends made me shiver and I tightened the grasp around my wand. I wouldn't let them hurt my family.

"My Lord?" Snape asked.

I tried to sneak a little closer to the two of them. Harry and Ron looked alarmed as soon as I started to move again, but I didn't care at that moment. I wanted to see what was going on.

When I had a good position to watch the two men, I turned around and looked at my friends reassuringly. They seemed to relax a little bit and Harry nodded.

I could see Voldemort raising the Elder Wand. He looked at it with a thoughtful expression on his face. "It doesn't work for me, and I wonder why, Severus."

"My - my Lord?" Snape asked slowly and I could see that he wasn't sure what to say in that situation. I pitied him very much. But why? I didn't know, the feeling was just... strange. "You have performed-"

"My usual magic with it!" Voldemort hissed and I felt like my blood was freezing. Poor Snape. Or was it his fault that he was in that situation? "There is no difference between this wand and my old one!" He started to walk around the room and suddenly I feared that he might see me, but luckily he didn't. He turned to Snape again.

"You may ask yourself why I called you, while everyone else is still fighting."

"Yes, my Lord. With your permission I would go back to the battle and find Potter for you." While he said these words, Snape didn't look into Voldemort's eyes. He was observing the snake in it's cage.

"No, Severus. Nobody is going to find Potter and bring him to me. He will come to me, without being forced to do it. I don't think that anybody understands him as I do. He can't stand watching others die for him and so he'll come. He wants to stop the battle at any cost."

I turned around to Harry and Ron as quickly as possible. Harry was very pale and Ron as white as a sheet. He looked at his best friend with an expression of fear in his face. When Harry looked into my eyes, I saw that he wasn't afraid. He looked determined, as if he really wanted to go to Voldemort and get killed, just to save us. He couldn't do that. There were many people who loved and needed Harry and that's why we had to stop him.

The expression on Harry and Ron's faces changed and I noticed, that I didn't listen to the conversation of the two men for a while. When I turned around again, I saw Voldemort standing a few feet before Snape, looking at him thoughtfully.

"The Elder Wand doesn't serve me properly, Severus, because I am not his true master. The Wand belongs to the wizard who killed his last owner, and that would be you, Severus. While you live, the Elder Wand cannot serve me."

My eyes grew wide. He wouldn't... would he?

"My Lord!" Snape protested loudly and raised his wand, but I knew that he would be too slowly. Before anybody knew what happened, the cage of Nagini had vanished and the snake was moving towards him very quickly. It bit into the wizard's throat and he fell to the floor.

"I regret it." Voldemort said coldly and then he disapparated together with the snake.

I didn't know how I got the Dittany in my hands so quickly, but at that moment I didn't care. I just wanted to save Severus Snape, if he was still alive. I left my hiding place and knelt down next to the older wizard. He was still breathing, but there was so much blood on his cloak and now on my hands, too, that I didn't think he would make it much longer.

I trickled some of the Dittany on his throat and I could see the would closing slowly. I also pressed my hands on it, trying to prevent the loss of more blood. Luckily the snake didn't use it's poison. If Nagini would have done that, Snape would already have been dead.

Snape's breath was easing off slowly and suddenly I felt tears in my eyes.

"You cannot die, please, you just _can't die_!" I pleaded and more tears began to run down my cheeks. "We need you." These last words were just a whisper and my whole body was shaking. He was dead.

But what was that? I felt something under my left hand, which was still on Snape's throat. Yes, there was a heartbeat! He was still alive!

I bent forward to him and I felt a soft movement of the air on my ears.

Then Snape opened his eyes slowly and looked directly into mine.


	2. Chapter 1

**Next chapter! Thank you for the reviews! They motivate me to go on writing :) I hope you like this chapter, too. And I would be glad about more reviews :D Everything you know isn't mine, but the things you don't know are my ideas**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

Hermione POV

"Hermione, are you all right?" Ron asked panic-struck. He and Harry stood a few feet behind Severus and me and it seemed as if they didn't dare to kneel down next to us.

I nodded, still too shocked to say anything. There were still tears in my eyes and I couldn't stop shivering. The fact that Voldemort wanted to kill Snape was something that I couldn't believe. He thought that Snape, who had killed Dumbledore, was the true master of the Elder Wand and so the wand couldn't serve him. But how could that be true? A wand which is given from one person to another by killing is... not really logical.

Suddenly I remembered what Ollivander had said to us in Shell Cottage, right after we saved him from Malfoy Manor. A wand can get a new master when it is taken by force. Not by the death of a person. Force. Could that mean...

"Is he...?" Harry's voice interrupted my thoughts and I turned around to look at him.

"No, he's still alive." Even I noticed the relieved tone in my voice and I wondered why it was there. I didn't like Snape. But now everything seemed different. I was so scared that he could die, it felt like my heart was standing still. I've never been so scared in my whole life.

"Normally people don't survive when Voldemort wants to kill them." Harry said thoughtfully and a little smile appeared on Ron's face.

"You're brilliant, Hermione! You've thwarted You-Know-Who's plans!"

Now I had to smile, too. "Well, it sounds much cooler than it actually was."

"That's what I say for years." Harry murmured and Ron grinned at him.

I turned around to look at Snape again. He was beginning to breath easier and it seemed to me as if he relaxed a little bit.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes again and looked at me. "Thank you." This words were just a soft whisper and I wasn't sure that Harry and Ron heard them, too, but I didn't care.

I was so relieved that I smiled at him widely.

"You don't need to thank me. I couldn't just let you die, could I?" I whispered back.

"Yes, you had every right to do it." Snape replied and there was a searching expression on his face. "I was very mean to you in the last seven years. I hated all three of you and I made your life very hard. And I helped the Dark Lord."

"But Dumbledore trusted you, and I don't believe that you are a bad person, Severus." Did I just call him _Severus_, and not Professor Snape? "You don't deserve death. I mean, you were not very nice sometimes, but that doesn't mean anything right now, does it? You shouldn't judge someone because of his past and to be honest, I don't think that you are still a Death Eater." The last words I whispered very quietly, to make sure that Harry and Ron didn't hear them. I knew that it would make them angry, even though it was the truth.

I hadn't realized it during the last years, but deep inside I trusted Severus Snape. Well, I had believed that he was on our side. Dumbledore couldn't have made a wrong decision by trusting him, at least he was very good in understanding people.

Now something very strange happened. Severus Snape smiled at me. I've never seen him smiling honestly, some people even believed that he couldn't smile.

Now I knew it better.

"Thank you, Hermione." He whispered and I saw tears in his eyes.

* * *

><p>"What are we going to do now?" Ron asked and looked at Harry and me. The two boys finally decided to come to us and now we had to decided what we would do. "I mean, we can't just go out with him and walk into the castle. Everyone would try to kill him!"<p>

I knew that he wasn't very happy about the fact that I saved Severus Snape. He hated him and Harry did that, too. Luckily he didn't show it that openly.

"But we have to get into the castle. We can't just leave him here." I pointed out and looked at Ron angrily.

"The cloak." Harry said simply. "Someone has to bring him into the castle under the Invisibility Cloak. Then nobody can see him and he's save."

I looked at Severus. "Would that be okay for you?" I asked and he nodded.

"We don't have another solution, do we?"

"And who's going with him?" Ron asked, an unfavourably look on his face.

Harry didn't look very happy, too, and so I smiled at them. "I'll do it."

"We should leave you alone, with _him_?" Ron looked at me with wide eyes and I knew that he thought that I was completely insane.

"When the two of you don't want to do it, there's only me." I said simply and held out my hand. "Give me the cloak."

"Are you sure?" Harry hesitated and I nodded determinedly.

"Of course I am."

"But..."

"No, Harry. Just because I'm a girl it doesn't mean that I'm weak. I can defend myself pretty good. Even when I'm alone. You don't have to protect me all the time. I'm not a child anymore. And I don't think that _Severus_ will do anything to me, at least I saved his life and he is working for Dumbledore, if you haven't realized it yet. And now give me the goddamn cloak!"

Harry, Ron and even Snape looked at me wide-eyed, but after a few moments of silence Harry gave me the Invisibility Cloak.

I smiled at them. "Thank you very much."


	3. Chapter 2

**Another chapter! And thank you for your reviews, they're really great. Please write some more, it's very motivating to get some and because of them I want to continue writing the story even more quickly. If you want to, you can also have a look at my other story about Harry Potter, maybe you like it, too. Everything you know isn't mine, but the things you don't know are my ideas! **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

Hermione POV

Severus was able to stand up alone again and I knew that Harry and Ron were glad about it. They hated him, which was no surprise and that also meant that they didn't trust him.

Of course they didn't dare to say anything against my offer to take him into the castle. Me being angry would be very bad for the two of them and this was the easiest solution for all of us. Harry and Ron would have been very angry if it was their task to take the teacher into the castle and I knew that Severus didn't like the idea of being alone with them, too.

And so I was able to spend some time with him, alone. I didn't know why I wanted it so badly, maybe because I saved his life and the attack on him had shocked me so much. Yes, that had to be the reason, there couldn't be another one. I mean, why would I spent time with Severus Snape, one of the most cold-hearted men in the world?

I just wanted to throw over the Invisibility Cloak, when we heart Voldemort's voice. It seemed to be anywhere in the Shrieking Shack and I realized that he was talking to everyone at Hogwarts. This was really bad and I began to shiver.

"You have fought valiantly." said the high, cold voice and I looked from Harry, who was as white as a sheet, to Severus. He was also very pale and it seemed as if he couldn't stand upright anymore. I quickly grabbed his arm and he leaned on me. Ron narrowed his eyes. "Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery.

You have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die. I do not want this to happen. Magical blood is very precious and every drop of it spilled is a loss."

I looked from Severus to Harry again. He clenched his fists and his expression was very angry. I knew that he wanted nothing more than to kill Voldemort. Not being able to do it was terrible for him.

"Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat, immediately. Then you have one hour to salvage your dead and treat your injured."

I knew what he was going to say know. He had a good reason for giving us one hour to rest. Severus and Ron seemed to think the same as I did. They looked at Harry anxiously and I began to feel cold. Suddenly I felt Severus' hand squeezing my shoulder to calm me down a little bit. I wondered why it worked.

"I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for you one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If you have not come to me at the end of that hour, the battle will continue. This time, I shall enter it myself and I am going to find you, Harry Potter, and I am going to punish everyone who is trying to hide you from me. One hour."

The last two words were a hiss and I looked at Harry wide-eyed.

"Don't listen to him!" Ron said loudly and I saw the fear in his eyes.

"It'll be all right." I heard myself whisper, but I didn't know where these words came from. I was too shocked to do anything, I even stopped to breathe for a few moments.

"We should go back to the castle." Ron nodded, trying to convince himself that nothing bad would happen.

"Yeah, you're right." Harry murmured, but it was so quietly, that you could barely hear it. He had an absent expression on his face.

"We have to talk." Severus suddenly said and we all looked at him. He was still leaning on me and I knew that it was because of the immense loss of blood the attack of Nagini had caused.

"Why would _you_ want to talk to me?" Harry asked a little louder and I could hear the hostility in his voice.

"Well, if you would have listened to Hermione before, you would know that I am working for Dumbledore." Did he just call me _Hermione_?

"Why should we believe you? You could just say it to make us trust you." Ron growled but I shook my head.

"Can't you just forget your hatred for a few seconds? We are in a war and we have only one hour to decide what we are going to do next. And by now you should really know that Severus is on our side! Dumbledore told you many times that he trusted him." I looked at Harry reproachfully. "I trust Dumbledore and his judgement. I thought you do that, too. But it seems like you judge Severus just by his opinion about your father." I saw that Harry wanted to say something, but that was something I couldn't need right now. "No, you listen to me! If he would really want to kill you, Severus could have already done that a million times since I saved his life. He's still got his wand and he's able to move again. But he didn't do anything. And he could have also called Voldemort, and he didn't. Yes, I know, Voldemort wanted to kill him, but by bringing him Harry Potter, the Dark Lord could maybe change his mind again, right? So why is he still here with us and didn't act?"

The three men looked at me with wide eyes. It seemed as if I shocked them with my long, furious speech. I wanted to smile, but I knew that it wasn't the right moment. So I decided to ask them a question.

"Will you listen to him now?"

Harry and Ron nodded at the same time, and even though I didn't want it, a little, winsome smile appeared on my lips.

"So what do you wanted to tell us, Severus?"

"There's something Dumbledore wanted me to show you." Snape said and looked directly into Harry's eyes.


	4. Chapter 3

**Next chapter! There's not much happening, but I hope you like it. I'll try to get part of the memories into the next chapter, so that it becomes more interesting. It would be very nice if you write a review to tell me about your thoughts and ideas. That's really motivating :) Everything you know isn't mine, but the things you don't are my ideas. **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

Hermione POV

We didn't have any problems to get back to the castle. The whole grounds were deserted and so the Invisibility Cloak was unnecessary.

Severus was still leaning on me a little bit, because he wasn't able to walk alone again. His strength was returning quickly, but nevertheless that would have been too much for him. They way was long, we were going uphill and in the castle would be many stairs until we reached the headmaster's office.

Harry and Ron were walking next to us and glared at Severus suspiciously every now and then. Of course they didn't trust him. I knew that they listened to what he had to say for me, not for him. Would they ever be able to like him? Or at least be friendly to him? I didn't know the answer. And why did I save him? He was always so...

"It's so quiet..." Ron whispered and I looked up, my thoughts vanishing. He was very pale and I understood why very well. The grounds were a big battleground and you could see that there had been some explosions because there were big holes in the earth. And then there were the dead. I knew that many of them were from our side, but I didn't want to believe it. The fact that people were dying just because we didn't kill the snake yet, was terrible and I began to feel cold.

Suddenly, I felt Severus' hand squeezing my arm to calm me and I looked at him slowly. There was something in his eyes which I couldn't define. Was it pity? Or even grief?

Then he raised his hand and wiped away a tear. I hadn't realized that I was crying until now and I didn't mean to go on. If I was going to be too sentimental now, then something would go very wrong. I didn't know why I was thinking that, but my heart told me that it was true.

"They are all in the castle, right?" Ron asked panic-struck and it seemed as if I didn't hear most of the things Harry said to his best friend. "I mean-"

"Ron, your family will be all right!" Harry said emphatically, but there was also uncertainty in his voice.

"But here are so many dead people..."

"Ron, calm down." Harry put a hand on his shoulder and Ron seemed to relax a little bit, but I knew that he was worrying about the people he loved more than anything. And I did that, too. They were like a family to me, too. I couldn't imagine a world without one of the Weasley's or any of our other friends. Losing the one's you love is really terrible and in this moment I suddenly thought of Sirius, Harry's godfather, and Dumbledore. And of course there were so many others who had to die because of his goddamn war, which we had to finish very quickly.

When we reached the castle, we heard soft voices in the great hall. I looked at Severus precariously. I really wanted to go into the hall and see if everyone was all right, but Severus couldn't come with us. The others knew him as the one who killed Dumbledore and was Voldemort's most loyal servant and they would try to kill him, I didn't doubt it.

"Give me the cloak." Severus, who seemed to know what I was thinking, said and held out his hand. I handed him the Invisibility Cloak and for a moment, our hands touched. It felt like my skin was burning at that point and I looked at the older man wide-eyed. I knew that he felt it, too, because he was looking very surprised and stopped moving, just as I did. The feeling was very strange to me and my whole body screamed to me that I should run away. However, my brain didn't hear it and so I stood there, looking into the black eyes of Severus Snape, the man whom I hated for many years, and I started to see him in a completely different way.

Now he wasn't the mean Potions and later Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher anymore. And also not the follower of Voldemort who had killed Dumbledore.

I just saw a man in whose life many terrible things had happened, which shaped him a lot. He seemed broken to me and there was much grief in his eyes, but also a fire of which I didn't know where it came from. A fiery determination to do what had to be done, no matter what it would cost. And then, just for a few seconds - I couldn't tell if it was really there - I saw some kind of affection and respect.

But that was just in my imagination, it had to be. Severus Snape couldn't like me, that was impossible.

"Hermione, are you coming or do you want to stand there forever?" I winced and turned around quickly to see Harry and Ron looking at us with a strange look on their faces.

"Yes, of course." I answered quickly and felt that I blushed.

When I turned around to Severus, he wasn't there anymore. "I'll wait here." his voice said out of nowhere and I just nodded and followed my best friends into the great hall.

Where I nearly broke down.

Because Fred Weasley was dead.

And Remus and Tonks, too.


	5. Chapter 4

**Next chapter! I hope you like it and I would love to get a review from you :) That's really motivating. And I'm sure that you would also have good ideas, which help me with the story. Everything you know isn't mine, but the things you don't are^^ **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

Hermione POV

Harry didn't go to Ron's family, who was mourning. I knew that it would have been too much for him and Molly, Arthur and the others seemed to know that, too. So he just stood there and looked at Remus and Tonks, lost in thought. He was feeling guilty for their deaths, for _everyone_ who has been dying in the battle until now. I wanted nothing more than to hug him and say that everything was going to be all right, but I doubted that it was true. The battle would continue and some people in the castle wouldn't survive it.

Ginny turned away from Fred's body and I took her into my arms. She was sobbing, which was very unusual for her. She never cried. But I did and right now, tears were streaming down my cheeks. Nobody said a word and it wasn't necessary, the grief of all the people here could be seen very easily.

I looked over Ginny's shoulder and saw Ron and George sitting next to Fred. Poor George, he'd spent his whole life with Fred. Losing someone of your family was horrible, but losing your twin was even more. They'd done everything together and now George was... alone.

After some time, in which Ginny and I just stood there and tried to forget all the horror and pain, Ron stood up and walked towards us.

"Ginny, would you mind me stealing Hermione? There's something we have to talk about." he whispered and Ginny, who wasn't crying anymore, shook her head.

"No problem." she looked into Harry's direction and I followed her gaze. "He won't do anything stupid, will he?"

"I don't know." I answered softly and shook my head. "I simply don't know the answer to that question..."

"We'll talk to him." Ron promised and I saw hope appearing in his sister's eyes. I tried to smile at her, in which I wasn't sure that it worked. Then Ron and I headed towards Harry. When we were close to him, I could see that he'd been crying, too.

"Harry?" I asked hesitantly and he lifted his head to look at us.

"It's my fault, isn't it? All these deaths... If I wouldn't have come back to Hogwarts, there wouldn't have been a battle."

Ron shook his head crossly. "It's not your fault. I mean... you just don't get it, do you? These people are dead, because they wanted to fight against the Death Eaters and they knew the risk! You couldn't have stopped them. And even if we wouldn't have come back, there would have been a battle here anyway! Hogwarts wouldn't give up without a fight. You can't let _him_ win, everyone here knows that." The angry tone in his voice surprised me. Normally, Ron didn't say his opinion so openly, but now he was right and so I nodded.

"And if there wouldn't have been a battle here in the castle, there would have been one in another place. And there people would have died, too." I added quickly.

Harry didn't seem to relax and I knew that he was regretting the decision to go to Hogwarts.

"Come on, Harry. Where's your single-mindedness? There's just one Horcrux left and then the last thing we have to do is to kill Voldemort! We need to make a plan!" Ron tried to motivate his best friend again.

But Harry just looked at us sadly. And then I knew what he was thinking. "_No!_" I shrieked before I could stop myself from doing it. "You can't just go and surrender yourself to him!" It wasn't easy to whisper because I was too outraged and Ron looked very shocked, too.

"Please tell me that you don't want to do that!" he whispered agonized and his hands began to shiver a little bit. I didn't know why just stood there and didn't take them into my own hands.

"But you know that there's nothing else I can do. I can't let more people die!" Harry held out his arms and he looked as pained as Ron.

"Why don't you speak to Severus first?" I asked quickly and I earned a thankfully look from Ron. "He wanted to tell you something very important. And if Dumbledore instructed him to do that, you should really listen to what he wants to say."

There were a few moments of silence, in which Harry thought about what he was going to do now.

"Okay, then we shouldn't wait any longer."

I nodded and left the hall determinedly. When I was at the foot of the steps, I looked around if nobody was there who could hear us. I didn't see anybody, so I thought that there was no risk at calling Severus.

"I am here." the answer came immediately and I had to smile unintentionally. Ron looked at me in a strange way, but I decided to ignore it. Right now, we couldn't afford an argument.

"I think you can take off the cloak." Harry said after he'd looked around, too.

So Severus Snape showed himself again, sitting on the stairs with the Invisibility Cloak now in his hands. He handed it so Harry again and then stood up slowly. I went to him and held out my hand.

A surprised look appeared on his face, but he took my hand without hesitation. The touch felt like a flash on my skin, just like it did the first time. Nevertheless I didn't let go of his hands. It wasn't a bad feeling, just... unfamiliar.

I knew that it was uncommonly that the girl helped the much older man, when two boys were there, too, but I didn't care. Harry and Ron hated this man and I didn't. The reason why I liked Severus Snape was hidden to me and I had to search for it later. Severus was based on me the entire way to the headmaster's office, which wasn't a problem to me.

When we finally arrived, he sat down behind the desk and with a swerve of his wand, three chairs appeared. We sat down, too, but Harry was looking around the room first. Then I noticed what attracted his attention, too.

All the paintings in the room were empty.


	6. Chapter 5

**Next chapter! I really hope you like it and I'd be happy about some reviews :) Everything you know isn't mine, but the things you don't know are my own ideas!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

Severus POV

I sat on a chair in the headmaster's office and looked at Potter, Weasley and Hermione. Even though this room should be my office now, I couldn't bring myself to call it that. It still felt like Dumbledore's office, the one in which we talked about so many important things that changed my whole life. And I didn't like the chair I was sitting on. It felt... wrong to sit here.

_No, you're not going to think about Dumbledore and what you've done to him... It's not the right moment... _

I couldn't explain why I wanted to think about all the things I had done in my life. I knew that I wasn't a good person, but this urge was new to me. Normally, I wasn't the one who regretted everything. Maybe it was connected to the fact, that Hermione saved my life about half an hour ago.

I had thought that I would die and the pain which seemed to explode in my body was the last thing I felt, but just before everything got completely dark, there was a light. And then I heard a voice. _Her_ voice, sounding like an angel calling me back to life. And so I had opened my eyes again and she was there. Hermione Granger, one of the students I had disliked most. To my own surprise, I saw her in a different way now. She wasn't an annoying girl who knew everything better anymore.

I also saw her good properties, if you can say it like that. She had been crying - over me - and that told me more than thousands of words. She had a good heart and cared for others. Despite that she didn't like me, she couldn't just let me die. That was... astonishing. Who else would want to save my life?

_Lily would have done it_. These words appeared in my head and for a moment I couldn't think of anything because the incredibly strong pain returned. The one, which had followed me all my life and never vanished. Well, that wasn't true anymore. When I was looking at Hermione now, it weakened until it disappeared completely. But why? I had to think about it later when I was alone again.

The three teenagers in front of me were looking at the portraits of the headmasters. Their emptiness seemed to confuse them, but I knew that they were in some of their other portraits from which they could follow the events better. I decided to say nothing about it.

When Potter looked at Dumbledore's empty frame, there was sadness in his eyes. I knew why he was feeling it and even though he wouldn't believe it, I felt the same. Dumbledore hadn't always been nice to me, not at all, but he gave me another chance after everything went wrong in my life. And that was of great worth to me. Thanks to him, I was able to live again and I had a task to do. Spying on the Dark Lord and protecting Harry Potter. Of course that wasn't always easy, but I had been willing to do everything for Albus Dumbledore after Lily died.

I loved her. And I still did. But now there was something else, a feeling which was new to me. I felt attracted to another person, who was much younger than me. Twenty-one years, to be exact. And this person was sitting in front of me now.

It seemed to me as if Hermione felt that I was watching her. Suddenly, she lifted her head and her eyes met mine. A little smile appeared on her lips and she blushed, but she didn't look away. And so I allowed me to smile at her, too. Of course it wasn't a wide smile, that was something I never did. Nevertheless, it made Hermione happy, at least I thought so.

"So what do you want to tell us, Severus?" she asked and I knew that she couldn't stand the silence in the office. It was suffocating.

When they heard her speak, Potter and Weasley looked at me, too. Potter seemed to be lost in thought and Weasley's face was empty of emotions.

"There's something Dumbledore wanted me to tell you." I began, but I couldn't say anything else.

"And why did he instruct _you_ to do that? I mean, he could have done it himself!" Potter said angrily and I realized that words wouldn't help me to persuade the boy. I decided to try it either way.

"Yes, he could have done it." I tried to stay calm, but the annoyed tone, which always appeared when I talked to Harry Potter, returned. "But it seemed as if it wasn't the right moment to do it."

"Why should we believe you?"

"Harry." Hermione looked at her best friend warningly. "Just listen to him, I know that he's on our side."

"How can you be sure?" The boy asked quietly and Hermione sighed.

"You trust Dumbledore and me, don't you? Then I beg you to trust Severus, too. It's really important." She looked at him entreatingly and after some seconds of silence, Potter nodded and murmured something which sounded like 'If you say so...'

When they focused on me again, I looked at Hermione thankfully. Then I turned to Potter, again. "Before I tell you what Dumbledore said to me, I want you to know that I knew your mother since we were children and that I liked her very much. Maybe that can help you at understanding my opinion about your father."

Potter looked at me wide-eyed and after some seconds he just nodded. "Okay, I think you should start recounting what Dumbledore said. Time's running out."

I nodded, too. "Since the day on which the Dark Lord threatened your mother, I was Dumbledore's servant. She was everything to me, even though she had married another man and never loved me as much as I loved her. I promised Albus to stay with the Death Eaters at the Dark Lord's side and there I collected information. It was very useful to the Order, but it didn't prevent the Dark Lord from killing your mother. The Dark Lord vanished and I stayed at Hogwarts to teach here. It was the only place where I was safe because Albus guaranteed the Ministry that I wasn't a Death Eater anymore. Of course this was true, but no one except Albus knew this and it was believed that the headmaster was mistaken.

Then the Dark Lord returned and I helped the headmaster to protect you from him. However, I had to return to him when he came back in a human body three years ago. And from that moment on, I was spying for Albus again. It was very difficult to deceive the Dark Lord, but he never doubted my loyalty.

You might ask why I killed Albus last year. And this is a good question, that's true. I swore to do it because it was very important to him. Now we all know why, I think. When the owner of the Elder Wand dies unbeaten, the power of it disappears. That's what Albus wanted. But I think it didn't work - we'll talk about that later. Believe me, I didn't like killing the man who gave me another chance in my life and also saw that there was something good in me. And worst of all was the fact, that I didn't know why I should end his life.

And if you still doubt that I'm on your side, than you should think of one night in the forest. There a doe appeared to you and guided you to the sword of Gryffindor. Which had always been in this office. The one at Gringotts was a counterfeit. Well, this doe is my Patronus. I can show it to you, if you want it."

I stood up slowly and raised my wand. "_Expecto Patronum_!" The silver doe appeared and ran through the room for two times, right before it disappeared through one of the windows. Potter, Weasley and Hermione were looking at me speechless and I smiled a little bit. I sat down again and folded my hands on the table.

"So I think you believe me now when I say that I'm on your side." They nodded, still too surprised to speak (of course Hermione already seemed to know all this). "Then let me tell you know what Dumbledore wanted you to know."

I looked into Potter's eyes and saw the same determination, which I had seen in Lily many times.


	7. Chapter 6

**Next chapter! I hope you like it and if you do, then please show it to me in a review! That would make me veeeeery happy :) Everything you know isn't mine, but the things which are new to you are made of my own ideas!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

Severus POV

"If you still won't believe the things I have to say, I'm sure I can convince you of their correctness in another way." I told Potter and saw the thoughtful look in his eyes.

"Why don't you try it just by explaining them?" Potter asked after a few seconds and I nodded slowly.

"Yes, at least the time's running out, right?" I asked without the intention to give him a possibility to answer. "Well, then I just start telling you everything."

The three teenagers in front of me nodded and I allowed me to smile coldly. What was going to come now wasn't nice, so there was no reason to look happy right now.

"I know that you don't remember the day on which the Dark Lord wanted to kill you, but it is very important. Dumbledore has already told you about the protection your mother made for you by sacrificing herself." At the mentioning of Lily, I had to stop talking for a moment. I swallowed.

"That is the reason why you're still alive. But because of Lily's action, there happened something else. The Killing Curse rebounded upon the Dark Lord and a fragment of his soul was yanked off. This piece of his soul tied up on the only living soul left in the building. On you."

Hermione and Weasley were looking at me wide-eyed, but Potter didn't show any emotion. He seemed to be agitated.

"Does that mean that he's like a... Horcrux?" Hermione asked shyly and I knew that she thought that the Horcruxes had been a secret between Dumbledore and the three of them. Weasley looked at her reproachfully and she looked down on her hands. She was very pale right now. Why did I want to hug her?

I nodded. "Yes, that's right. A part of the Dark Lord's soul lives in Mr. Potter and that also explains why he can speak to snakes and enter the Dark Lord's mind. The bad thing about it is, that the Dark Lord cannot die while you are alive." I looked into Potter's eyes and I saw that he understood what I wanted to say.

"So I have to die..." he murmured softly and I nodded.

"And the Dark Lord himself must do it. That is important."

_'You have kept him alive so that he can die at the right moment?' _This sentence suddenly appeared in my mind and I inhaled sharply. Why was this memory coming to me right now?

_'Don't be shocked, Severus. How many men and women have you watched die?'_

_'Lately, only those whom I could not save.' _

One of my most important conversations with Dumbledore. There he finally told me the truth about the boy and the Dark Lord and it made me sad. The boy, _Lily's_ son, whom I had protected his entire life, had to die. We had kept him safe so that his life could end at the right moment. This knowledge was terrible to me, even if I never liked Harry Potter very much. He always seemed to be like his father and I hated James more than anything. However, he had his mother's eyes...

Maybe I should have tried to see his good properties. And why would that have been useful to me? He didn't like me either, so it would have been useless anyway. Maybe...

'"Are you all right, Severus?" A voice interrupted my thoughts and I realized that I had closed my eyes and tears were running down my cheeks. I opened my eyes slowly, just to see the worried look of Hermione and - to my surprise - Potter. Weasley looked as if he didn't know what to think of this situation, but I didn't care.

"You really loved her, didn't you?" Potter asked suddenly, but his tone wasn't angry. Just curious.

"Yes." I whispered and I knew that it was so faint that the others could barely hear it. "I loved Lily from the moment I first saw her. But she never saw me in the same way as I witnessed her. I was her best friend, nothing more. The first years that wasn't a bad thing, but then your father got interested in her, too. I hated him immediately. Jealousy is a very strange feeling, you know? You can't control it and when it's there once, you can't get rid of it. The years in which she was with your father were terrible to me, and then she was killed." I sighed and more tears appeared in my eyes. "I wanted to die, too. It was my only and biggest whish. But Dumbledore wanted me to live and protect you if it was possible. It was the most difficult and at the same time the easiest decision in my life. I think you know how the story goes on."

I tried to fight down my tears. This was the last thing I wanted. Crying in front of Potter, Weasley and Hermione. Admitting that I also had weak points. And what was I going to do know? I didn't know.

"I'm so sorry." Hermione whispered and when I looked at her, I saw that she was crying, too. And there were also tears in Potter's and Weasley's eyes, which surprised me a lot.

"And what are we going to do now?" Weasley asked quietly and his voice was shaking.

"You aren't going to do anything." Potter answered in an empty tone which made me feel as if my blood was frozen. I began to shiver. "This isn't your fight, it never was. All the people who have been dying here could be still alive if I wouldn't have hidden from Voldemort. Everything which is happening here is my fault, and I have to end this war."

"No!" Hermione cried and stood up, a shocked expression on her face. "You can't just go to the forest and let him kill you! There has to be another way..."

Harry stood up, too and took her hands to comfort her. Jealousy, a strange feeling, indeed. "I don't have a choice, Hermione. You heard what Dumbledore told Snape. I have to die. Voldemort can't be killed when I'm still alive."

"And then we should just let you walk into your death?" Weasley jumped from his seat and looked at his best friend unbelievingly. "You can't do that! What are we going to do without you?"

They looked at each other in silence and after a few moments, a determinedly fire appeared in Harry's eyes. "You are going to kill that snake. It'll be the only thing between you and Voldemort. And when it is dead, you are going to finish him off. Then this war will be over and a return of Voldemort will be impossible. I know that you don't understand why I have to do this, but I have made my decision. I won't let anyone else die for me."

"Oh Harry..." Hermione whispered right before she wrapped her arms around her best friend. Weasley joined the hug and I looked to the ground. I didn't want to disturb them.

When I lifted my head again, Harry Potter was gone and Hermione and Ron were crying heavily.


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey, I hope you like my new chapter. I just had to write it, please tell me what you think. I really love your feedback, it's pretty helpful. Everything you know isn't mine, but the things which are knew to you are made of my own ideas! **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

Hermione POV

Harry was gone. To the forbidden forest. Where Voldemort was waiting for him. And there he would die.

Even though he had left the room some minutes ago and told us what he wanted to do, I couldn't believe it. I thought that we fought in this war to kill Voldemort and save everyone else, but losing Harry was something I never expected. Since I heard the prophecy, I believed that he had a real chance to stop our biggest enemy. Well, seems like I was wrong...

My eyes were filled with tears again and I looked down at my hands. After Harry left the room, Ron and I were still hugging each other tightly and we cried. But after some time, it seemed as if no more tears were left to escape our eyes, and so we sat down on our chairs again. Nobody said a word and I wasn't sad about it. Too many things were on my mind right now. My best friend was going to let himself be killed. I still felt as if I couldn't breathe freely.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps. Severus, who had been standing at the window since Harry left, was moving towards the desk again. Because of my tears I wasn't able to see everything in a clear way, but I thought that there was something like sadness in his eyes. I blinked a few times and wiped away my tears. That was better.

I was right, Severus Snape looked _sad_. That was unusual for him. I knew that he didn't hate Harry completely because of his mother, but that he was sad about him going to die was unexpected. The tears returned and I had to sob. _He was going to die... _

Severus stopped immediately and his eyes grew wide. First it seemed, as if he wasn't sure what to do right now, but then he slowly moved towards me. I heard Ron inhaling sharply, which wasn't a big surprise to me. He didn't trust Severus as much as I and Harry did and he hated him more than anything. Well, except Voldemort, I thought.

Severus knelt down in front of me and touched my cheek to wipe away a tear. At his touch, I felt this tension again and I began to shiver even more. I looked into his black eyes and there was something I couldn't classify. Was it sadness, pity, guilt or even... affection? I didn't know. Then, I saw that his eyes filled with tears, too. Why?

But before I could say anything to Severus, Ron's voice interrupted me. "What are you doing? Leave her alone!" he growled loudly and Severus and I turned around to look at him immediately. For a few seconds, we were all frozen. There was a tension in the air which had nothing to do with the one Severus' touch caused on my skin. It felt as if someone was going to start an attack.

"Ron!" I hissed and looked at him reproachfully. "What do you think he's doing?"

"He's bothering you, isn't he?" A little bit of confusion appeared in Ron's eyes.

"No, he isn't!" My voice grew louder, but right now I didn't care. Too much had happened during the last days. Gringotts, Aberforth, the battle, the diadem, Severus, Fred, Remus and Tonks, and now Harry. I didn't see why I should let Ron give orders to me right now. He just couldn't do it. "I don't think that you can say anything against me spending time with Severus. I _like_ him, Ron. The fact that you don't trust him doesn't change anything about that. I'm not a child which needs to be looked for anymore. I can make my own decisions and if something happens, I'm able to defend myself pretty well. And now would you please stop complaining about him? I think there are more important things right now. At least our best friend is going to sacrifice himself."

Was it too much? I thought so. At least a pained expression appeared on Ron's face. But if it was caused by my words about Severus or Harry I couldn't say.

Suddenly, Ron's expression turned cold. "I hope you two will get happy together." His words hit me like a curse and my eyes grew wide in shock. Did he just say what I thought that he'd said? I opened my mouth to yell at him, but Severus was faster.

"Do you really think that this conversation has to take place right now? I don't think that it is a good time." He was looking at Ron coldly and I knew that look too well. At least he'd used it for nearly seven years.

"Oh, all right. The _lovers_ don't want to be interrupted!" Now Ron was yelling as loud as he could. He had stood up from his chair and Severus and I got up, too.

"Why do you say something like that?" I cried and I felt desperate. Now I was going to lose both of them, Harry and Ron. But since Ron had left us on the hunt, nothing had been the same as before. My bitterness was still there and I didn't think that it was going to vanish soon.

"BECAUSE IT'S TRUE!" I took a step backwards and now my arm was touching Severus'. To my surprise, this gave me some confidence.

"Are you mad? My best friend is walking into his death and now I have to hear accusations about Severus and me? Because we like each other?" Very much, I added in thought. Of course that was something I would never say.

"No, I'm not mad! I just see the things how they really are! And it _hurts_, do you know? Seeing the girl I always liked very much staring at someone else! Someone who is much too old and just evil!" Tears were streaming down Ron's cheeks and I began to cry, too. This was too much for me. I couldn't stand it any longer, I knew it. I grabbed Severus' arm to prevent me from falling to the ground and he looked at me alarmed.

"Ron, please stop.." I begged softly, but he wouldn't listen. "You don't understand..."

"I don't understand what, Hermione? That I've got no chance at making you love me? After I've left Lavender, I thought that there could be something between us. It even looked like you wanted it, too! Seems like I've been wrong."

He stormed out of the room and neither Severus nor me tried to stop him. I knew that Severus was very angry right now and I didn't have the strength to follow him. Even if I would have wanted it.

So he had a crush on me. One of my best friends. This fact made me feel like my blood was freezing. I've never seen anything else than my best friends in Harry and Ron. Being together with one of them would be like... having a relationship with a member of your family. The thought of it made me feel sick.

I felt my knees give away and then I was in Severus' arms. "Are you all right?" he asked softly and in a concerned way.

I nodded weakly. "I think all the events in the last days have been too much for me." I whispered and looked into his eyes, which were full of commiseration.

"Everything's going to be all right." Severus whispered back and I shivered. "You don't have to worry."

"But Ron..."

"Someday this conversation would have taken place anyway. Don't think about it anymore. He'll calm down and then you can be friends again, I know it."

A weak smile appeared on my face. "Thank you, Severus." I whispered and to my surprise, he smiled back at me.

"You don't have to thank me, Hermione." he whispered back.

Then our faces began to move closer to each other.


	9. Chapter 8

**The next chapter! I hope you like it and please write a review, that's really motivating. And I'd love to hear your ideas :) Everything you know isn't mine, but the things which are new to you are my own ideas! **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

Severus POV

_"Thank you, Severus." Hermione whispered and a little, beautiful smile appeared on her face. She looked like an angel right now - a very sad one, that was true - and I felt as if I couldn't breath anymore. I really liked her. _

_"You don't have to thank me, Hermione." I whispered back. You didn't have to ask me how I got the strength to say anything, I couldn't answer the question. There was a tension in my entire body and that was something I had never felt before._

_Then our faces began to move closer to each other. _

When Hermione's lips touched mine, I shivered. Her lips were very soft and warm, but also a little salty because she had been crying.

My heart was racing and it felt like my entire body would be burning. In this moment, all my thoughts and doubts vanished and all that was left was Hermione. The feeling of her body in my arms, pressed against me. Her arms around my shoulders and our touching lips.

It was amazing.

I couldn't find other words to explain it. I felt as if I was in heaven and the girl in my arms was an angel. But of course it was useless to whish that this moment could last forever.

Much too early, our lips parted and there was a distance between our faces again. But why were we sitting on the floor of the office right now?

I looked into Hermione's eyes and saw a mixture of emotions. I could see happiness, affection and fondness, but also doubt, sadness and thoughtfulness.

In this moment, I thought that my heartbeat was going to stop. Did she think that the kiss was a mistake? Maybe I just had imagined that she liked me. At least I was much older than her, too old, to be exact. And what should I do when she decided to walk away?

I must have looked very shocked because Hermione paled. "Is everything all right?" she breathed softly and I shivered at the sound of her voice.

"Yes. I mean, no. No, everything's okay, but... I don't know." I finally admitted and sighed.

Hermione looked at me wide-eyed and I couldn't say what she was feeling right now. "Oh." Her hands, which had still been around my neck, fell into her lap and she frowned. "What do you mean?" At the fear in her voice, I stiffened. Mistakenly, Hermione seemed to see it as a sign of rejection because she moved away a little bit, so there was a distance between us. We were still sitting on the floor.

I wanted to say so many things. Tell her, that everything's all right. Say how beautiful she is. Admit that I have feelings for her. But this sentences felt... wrong. It wasn't the right moment for those things. If it would ever come, then it would be later. Much later, I supposed.

"I don't think that this is going to work." I said after a few minutes of silence and to my own surprise, there were sadness and pain in my voice.

Hermione's eyes filled with tears, but she didn't sob. "And how do you want to know that?" Her voice was controlled and there were no signs of uncertainty.

"You realized that you like me about an hour ago. And I really _saw_ you for the first time at that moment, too. Don't you think that this happened too early? We don't know each other very well and besides, I am too old for you."

She thought about it for a few seconds and shook her head slowly. "To be honest, I knew that you're on our side for years. Sometimes you weren't very nice and I didn't understand your actions, that's true. But I trusted Dumbledore and so I observed you as good as possible. I got to know lots of things about you, Severus. You have a good heart, even if you don't show it. And you did everything you could to keep Harry safe. Maybe you don't believe me when I say that I like you very much, but I mean it. You can believe me."

I frowned and looked at her closely. There was a shy smile on her lips - which looked very beautiful - and her cheeks were a little red. She wasn't lying, that was obvious.

And how did I feel about her? I liked her very much, that was true. From the three teenagers who always had been in trouble, I always had liked Hermione most. She remembered me of Lily. They were both very intelligent, even though their parents were muggles, and at school they were the best students in their years. But in almost every other aspect, they were completely different from each other. Hermione could also be strict and she said what she was thinking, even if it would hurt other people. Of course she had a good heart and wanted to help everyone, even the house elves, and I admired that. She liked being alone and reading books, something Lily had never done. And when Hermione laughed...

"Severus, are you still here?" Hermione looked at me with raised eyebrows and something strange happened. I blushed.

"I'm sorry." I said quickly and a small smile appeared on her face. "I do believe you and you should know that I like you, too. More than I should. It's... difficult to explain. When you are around, I feel relaxed and all my sorrows seem to vanish. There are feelings I've never felt before and to be completely honest, they confuse me a little bit. I'm happy and I have to smile, which was very rare before. I like talking to you and I wish I could do it all the time. I'm not afraid to tell you something about me and that's... pretty scary. You just turned my whole world around." I didn't realize that I'd been smiling, but the happiness in Hermione's eyes told me that I seemed to look happy, too.

Suddenly, I noticed that the distance between us was smaller than a few minutes ago.

"And if you really feel like that, then why shouldn't it work?" Hermione whispered softly and I nearly felt her breath on my skin.

"The other's won't be happy to see us together."

Hermione shrugged and for a few seconds, there was an angry expression on her face. "And why should we care about what they think? It's our decision and they can't change anything."

The certainty in her voice surprised me, but my smile grew wider. "That's right. But your friends..."

"Will accept my decision." She smiled at me. "I just know it."

When our lips touched again, the tension in my body returned. I wrapped my arms around Hermione to pull her close and a soft moan escaped her lips. I smiled into the kiss.

But suddenly, the air seemed to get colder and I had to shiver. We broke apart and Hermione looked at me anxiously. She was still in my arms and I didn't have the intention to let her go. She seemed grateful for it.

_"Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone. _

_The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you and the Boy who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle, now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live, and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together." _


	10. Chapter 9

**I hope you like this chapter. I couldn't stop me from writing it today, your reviews are really great! Please write more of them :) Everything you know isn't mine, but the things you don't know are my ideas! **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

Hermione POV

I looked at Severus wide-eyed. This couldn't be true. Harry had to live. He couldn't be dead!

Even though he had told us that he was going to the forest to deliver himself to Voldemort, I had hoped that he wouldn't do it. Of course it was useless because I knew Harry Potter very well and he just couldn't let others die for him. He had never liked the thought of others being in trouble because of his actions.

Now it was too late either way. There was no hope anymore and I just felt... empty. My best friend was dead. Killed by the man who wanted to take over the world, no matter what it would cost him.

I began to feel cold and I couldn't move. I closed my eyes slowly and tried to calm down a little bit, but I wasn't successful. I was too shocked. My heart was racing and I shivered uncontrollably. And when did I start crying?

Suddenly, I felt Severus' grip around my shoulders tighten and I opened my eyes again. There were tears in his eyes too and he looked at me anxiously. His face was as white as a sheet of paper and I knew that he was sad.

When our eyes met, I couldn't hold back my sobs anymore. I cried loudly and hid my face on Severus' shoulder. He stroked my back slowly and didn't say anything. Somehow, I was grateful for that.

After a few minutes, I began to calm down again. Severus was crying too and I wiped away his tears softly. "You never really hated him, right?" I whispered and he nodded weakly.

My grief grew even stronger. Severus didn't have a chance to show Harry how he was really feeling and that was very sad to me. Maybe they could have become friends.

"I think we should go downstairs to see what's happening." Severus suggested and I nodded. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to know what was going to happen, but I didn't have a choice. The others would ask themselves where I was and moreover I couldn't just sit here and do nothing.

Severus stood up and I took his hand, so that he could help me to get on my feet. I couldn't stop myself from smiling at him and his lips twitched, too. Then I frowned. "You can't just go down with me." I realized and felt the blood leaving my cheeks. "I'm sure the others won't be happy to see you." The thought of my friends hurting Severus was terrible. I couldn't let that happen.

"You don't have to worry, Hermione. I have my own Invisibility Cloak." He went to the desk of the headmaster and opened a drawer. When he came back to me, he held a cloak in his hands. "Nothing's going to happen to me." Severus promised and I relaxed again. That was good.

"Will you stay close to me?" I asked, not knowing if I could stand being alone right now.

"Always." He whispered and his lips brushed mine. Then he threw over the cloak and vanished. I didn't like the feeling of not being able to see him. I had already hated it when Harry had used his cloak. Harry...

"Don't cry, please. I hate seeing you like that." Severus' voice was coming out of nowhere and I looked around automatically. Then he touched my shoulder and I winced. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to scare you."

"It's all right."

His hand found mine and then we left the office.

* * *

><p>Now the Great Hall was empty, too. Everyone was at the courtyard and so we left the castle through the portal.<p>

It wasn't difficult to find the Weasley's. They were standing in the middle of the group and when they saw me, Ginny, Molly and Arthur hugged me immediately. Ron was standing a few meters away from he and it seemed as if he didn't want to come closer. His eyes were red and there were still tears on his face. I had also started crying again as soon as I saw all the people standing here. It was just terrible.

Finally, Ron took a few steps into my direction and then he stood right in front of me. He looked embarrassed and I knew that he was ashamed, but that didn't excuse the things that he's said in the headmaster's office. Severus' hand was on my shoulder and that helped me to control myself. I wasn't feeling entirely alone.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said all those things." Ron murmured and I shook my head.

"We'll talk about it later." He seemed to know that I didn't forgive him and nodded slowly.

Then I threw my arms around him, which surprised him very much. First, he didn't know what he should do, but then he wrapped his arms around my shoulders. The embrace didn't last very long. Nevertheless, it showed our sadness and grief about what had happened to Harry. We missed him and the message of Voldemort tortured both of us.

Suddenly, the people around us began to whisper nervously.

"They're coming." I heard Severus' voice and I could feel his breath on my skin. Apparently, he saw my nervousness and fear because he took my hand. "I won't leave you."

"I know." I answered softly.

After a few minutes, I saw the Death Eaters too. They were coming in a long queue, Voldemort at the front of it. And right behind him there was a familiar figure.

"Hagrid!" Arthur whispered and when I saw the ropes on Hagrid's arms and legs, I was stunned. What had they done to him? And what was he carrying...

"NO!" Professor McGonagall, who was standing in front of the group, cried. I've never before heard her that desperate and I tightened my grip around Severus' hand.

"No!"

"_No!_"

"**Harry! HARRY!**"

Now I saw Harry too. My best friend, lying in Hagrid's arms motionless. I thought that my knees were about to give in, but luckily I was still able to stand.

I heard a woman - Bellatrix - laugh and at that sound I began to shiver uncontrollably. Ron shot me an anxious look, right before he turned around to look at the enemy again.

"Are you okay?" Severus sounded worried. "You look like you've just heard someone screaming."

"I'll tell you later." I whispered and I knew that he wasn't happy about that answer. But there were other things which were more important right now.

"SILENCE!" Voldemort cried and suddenly, nobody was able to talk anymore. "It's over! Set him down, Hagrid, at my feet, where he belongs!"

It was terrible to see Hagrid, who was crying, setting Harry onto the grass. I saw a movement to my left and when I turned my head to look at it, Arthur was holding Ginny in his arms. I knew that she wanted to run towards Harry and her father had stopped her before something bad could happen. Now she was crying brokenly, but she didn't try to escape the grip.

"You see?" Voldemort asked and there was a maliciously grin on his face. He looked like he was crazy. "Harry Potter is dead! The boy who was the Chosen One for you, was nothing more than a normal boy. And I killed him! Do you understand it now? You were fooled!"

"He beat you!" I yelled and suddenly, everyone was able to talk again. I was furious. How could he say anything bad about Harry? Right now, I wanted nothing more than to curse Voldemort.

"He was killed when I wanted to run away! He wanted to save himself and leave you alone in this war!" It was difficult for Voldemort to shout loud enough. And then something incredible happened.

Neville wanted to run towards the Death Eaters, in his hands he was holding something I couldn't recognize. But then there was a flash of light and Neville was lying on the ground. I wanted to run towards him, but two invisible hands held me back. "Don't do this! Or do you want to get killed, too?" Severus hissed into my ear and I could hear the concern in it.

"Who is this?" Voldemort asked. Now Neville was kneeling in front of Voldemort, a Death Eater standing behind his back. His wand was pointed at Neville's head. Then I was able to see what Neville had been holding. It was the Sorting Hat. I frowned. Why was it here?

"Neville Longbottom!" Bellatrix laughed loudly. "He's been making much trouble here in the castle. The son of the Aurors, do you remember?"

"Yes, I do." Voldemort whispered and he looked at my friend thoughtfully. Then Neville tried to stand up again, but he felt the wand of the man standing behind him at his neck. He stopped his attempt.

"You are a pure-blood, aren't you?" Voldemort wanted to know and I inhaled sharply.

"And what if I am?" Neville asked loudly.

"You are brave and your blood shows that you could be a good Death Eater." I shook my head slowly. Not every pure-blood wanted to be a Death Eater. Sirius Black was a member of the Order and he hated Voldemort and his followers.

"I'll join you when hell freezes over!" Neville shouted. "Dumbledore's Army!" Now almost everyone on our side started to cheer.

But Voldemort seemed to be completely unimpressed. "Then we'll continue with our original plan." he said coldly. "But first, we should eliminate our little problem here. Nagini." At the sound of the snake's name, Severus' grip around my hand strengthened and I stiffened, too. Terrible memories were returning. I swallowed.

Neville was looking from the snake towards the Hat and then back to Nagini. What had caught his attention?

Nagini began to move towards him slowly and suddenly, Neville's hand vanished in the Sorting Hat. Seconds later it returned and I could see that it was holding the Sword of Gryffindor. My eyes widened in surprise and I heard many shocked exclamations.

Nagini was about to jump at Neville, when he sliced off the snake's head with a single stroke. There was no blood, just black smoke which seemed to stay in the air. Voldemort's mouth was open in a scream that nobody could hear and right now, I felt a grim satisfaction. I just wanted to take my wand and run to Neville, when I heard Hagrid's voice.

"HARRY! HARRY! WHERE'S HARRY?"


	11. Chapter 10

**Next chapter! I hope you like it and please write a review :) Everything you know isn't mine, but the things which are new to you are my own ideas! **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

Hermione POV

For a few seconds, I was frozen in shock. Like many others, I was looking at the spot where Harry had been lying in the grass. Dead.

But he wasn't there anymore. And I couldn't explain why my best friend had vanished. Did somebody take him away or was it a trick of the Death Eaters to create chaos.

If my second idea was true, then it worked very well. Almost everyone was fighting again and even the centaurs and the giants were involved in the battle. I saw Grawp running towards Hagrid and Buckbeak was attacking a giant. The Thestrals were helping him as best as they could and I knew that they were going to win.

Suddenly, I realized that I couldn't just stand here and do nothing. I drew my wand and cursed the first Death Eater I saw. The man fell to the ground and wasn't able to move anymore. When I looked around, I saw more Death Eaters running towards me and I turned around to run into the Entrance Hall. But right before I could start running, I froze again.

"Severus?" I asked and looked around. I didn't have to speak quietly because everyone was too aroused to listen to anything that was said and there were many explosions in the courtyard.

"I'm right here, just run into the castle. I'll follow you." I heard Severus' voice and looked to the right; the place, where I thought that he was standing.

"I won't leave you, I promise. But you really have to go!" The pressing tone in his voice showed me, that it was time to run. And so I followed the others into the Entrance Hall, where many fights were taking place.

The first person I saw, was Horace Slughorn. He was still wearing his pyjamas and when the situation wouldn't have been so serious, it would have looked very funny. However, he was attacked by Rookwood right now and it seemed as if the professor didn't have a chance to win. So I quickly cast a Shield Charm between the two of them. Rookwood turned around, a surprised look on his face. When he saw me, he began to grin and I knew that he wanted to curse me, but I was faster. My spell hit his chest and he fell to the ground, the grin still on his face.

Slughorn looked at me thankfully and I smiled fleetingly, before I looked around again. When my eyes reached the stairs, I saw something which made them grew wide. The house-elves of Hogwarts swarmed into the Entrance Hall, holding knives and cleavers in their hands. And they were led by Kreacher, who was wearing the locket of Regulus on his chest. "Fight! Fight! For my master, the defender of the house-elves! Fight! Against the Dark Lord, fight! For master Regulus! Fight!"

I wasn't able to close my mouth again. This scene was unique and I was proud of the house-elves and most of all, I was proud of Kreacher. The poor, old house-elf who had been treated so badly in the house of the Blacks. And who had changed so much when Harry, Ron and I had been living at Grimmauld Place for some time. So he had went to Hogwarts. After our little trip to the Ministry, I had asked myself very often what had happened to Kreacher.

When the elves began to attack the Death Eaters with their kitchen utensils, I began to concentrate on the other people in the room. I saw Voldemort standing in the middle of the hall. He was fighting three wizards - McGonagall, Slughorn and Kingsley - at the same time, but it didn't looked like they had a chance against him. After all, he was one of the most powerful wizards of our time. And the most terrible one in the world.

I knew that fighting against him was useless, so I searched another Death Eater whom I could attack. I saw Ron and Neville fighting against Fenrir Greyback and I wanted to help them, but in that moment, I heard a voice screaming my name.

"Hermione, watch out!" It was Severus and he seemed to be standing somewhere behind my back. I turned around quickly, just to see a spell coming out of the air. It hit Dolohov in the face and he fell to the ground, where he was winding himself for a few seconds, until he stopped moving. I looked to the place where the spell had appeared and I knew that I was very pale at the moment. Right now, I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around Severus Snape and forget everything else. Of course that wasn't possible and Severus couldn't get rid of the Invisibility Cloak. When someone would see him in the battle too early, every Death Eater would try to kill him. And I couldn't let that happen.

"Severus?" I whispered and began to feel cold. Where was he? Did something happen to him? Was...

"I'm here, Hermione. Everything's all right. You're okay." The last sentence was very difficult to be understood, but Severus seemed to stand very close to me right now. Then I felt something touching my cheek and I knew that it was his hand. I closed my eyes for a moment.

"Thank you so much. What should I do without you?"

If Severus wanted to answer my question, there wouldn't have been a chance to do it. I saw Luna and Ginny running towards me, a shocked expression on their faces.

"Hermione, are you all right?" Luna asked and looked around quickly.

"We heard someone calling your name and thought that something happened to you." Ginny explained, a strange tone in her voice. It sounded so empty and I knew that it was because of Harry. But there was something else which made me feel uncomfortable. Was it distrust?

"You don't have to worry, nothing happened." I assured quickly and they relaxed a little bit. But then I saw someone walking into our direction and my heartbeat seemed to stop. Bellatrix Lestrange laughed insanely and Ginny, Luna and I pointed our wands at her.

I had known that she was a powerful witch before, but that she was equal to Ginny, Luna and me was a surprise. I wondered where Severus was right now. However, there were other things which were important. For example trying to defeat Bellatrix without being killed. And that wasn't easy.

Suddenly, a Killing Curse nearly hit Ginny and we all knew that she missed death by an inch. I just wanted to run towards Bellatrix and hit her with a curse, when I heard a familiar voice.

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"

Mrs Weasley ran towards Bellatrix and threw off her cloak. Now she was able to move more freely. Bellatrix turned around and when she saw her new challenger, she started to laugh uncontrollably. Of course Mrs Weasley didn't look like a threat to her.

"OUT OF MY WAY!" Mrs Weasley shouted to Luna, Ginny and me and we took a few steps back, watching the scene anxiously. The distance between them was filled with many lights and many of them hit the floor, where they left little notches. It was obvious that both women wanted to kill each other.

When some other students wanted to help Mrs Weasley, she told them to go away. It was her battle and she would fight it alone. I looked around in the Hall and to my surprise, I saw that only two battles were still taking place.

Voldemort was still fighting Professor McGonagall, Professor Slughorn and Kingsley; and then there were Bellatrix and Mrs Weasley. Nobody wanted to interfere in one of the circles and so hundreds of people just stood there and watched what was happening.

"What will happen to your children when I've killed you? When Mummy's followed Freddie?" Bellatrix was laughing insanely again and Mrs Weasley seemed to get even more furious. "You'll never touch our children again!" she screamed and then one of her curses hit Bellatrix chest, directly over her heart.

Bellatrix's gloating smile froze and her eyes grew wide when she realized what had happened to her. She fell to the ground and the people watching the scene started to cheer loudly. I felt something touching my back and when I turned my head, I didn't see anyone.

"It's just me. Don't be afraid." Severus murmured into my ear and I relaxed again. He was still here.

However, the relief didn't last long. I heard someone screaming and I knew that it was Voldemort. He was looking at Bellatrix as if it was a bad dream and then he pointed his wand at Mrs Weasley.


	12. Chapter 11

**The next chapter! I'm sorry that I didn't write for some days, but I have to learn for school very much at the moment. Can you forgive me? I hope you like the chapter and please write a review, it's very motivating :) Everything you know isn't mine, but the things which are new to you are my own ideas! **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

Severus POV

I looked at the scene in front of me wide-eyed.

Bellatrix Lestrange, a very powerful and crazy witch, who liked to torture people, was dead. Killed by Molly Weasley, a witch without special powers. It was difficult to believe.

All the time I had spied for Dumbledore, I had thought that Bellatrix would end up in Azkaban again when the Dark Lord wasn't there anymore. I didn't see a possibility to kill her and even Albus had thought that it would be difficult to get her out of the way. And now she was dead. Because she wanted to attack one of the Weasley's. It was kind of amazing. One problem less.

Suddenly, the Dark Lord screamed and I saw Minerva, Horace and Kingsley lying on the ground a few feet away from him. His eyes focused on Molly Weasley and for a second, I wasn't able to move. Then the Dark Lord raised the Elder Wand slowly and before I knew what I was doing, I had already cried "_Protego_!" and the Shield Charm expanded in the middle of the hall, right between the Dark Lord and his victim.

But I thought that I had heard someone else screaming too. Well, at the moment I wasn't able to think about that. It had to wait. Because the Dark Lord was looking into my direction now, searching for the person who had prevented him from killing the woman. I didn't have to think about my next step very closely. If I continued to hide myself, everyone else in the hall would be in danger. Including Hermione. And I couldn't let that happen.

So I pulled of the Invisibility Cloak.

I heard the surprised screams of many people, but I didn't pay attention to them. The only sound which made my self-confidence lessen a little bit was Hermione's shocked cry. I knew that she was afraid that something could happen to me and I wanted nothing more than to tell her that I loved her and wouldn't let her alone.

Now there was silence in the Entrance Hall. The two little circles had vanished, and now the Dark Lord and I were standing in the middle of one big circle.

"I am sorry to say this, but I can not let you kill this woman, my Lord." I said in a polite tone and bowed slightly. So this was the moment when I would finally reveal myself to him. During the last years, I had waited for it and at the same time feared it very much. What was going to happen? I had always thought that I wouldn't live long enough to see this moment or that I would die at the end of it.

"Ah, Severus. It's good to see you." The Dark Lord answered loudly and I saw the gleam in his eyes. He was very angry right now and I knew that it wasn't just because of Bellatrix. He wanted me to be dead too. "Where have you been for the last hour?"

"I have just done my service, my Lord." The tension in the hall was rising constantly. I knew that he wouldn't listen to me for a long time.

"MURDERER!" Someone in the crowd yelled, but I decided to ignore it. I would remain the man who had killed Albus Dumbledore, the most popular headmaster of Hogwarts, forever. There was no way I could change that.

The Dark Lord raised his eyebrows. Well, he would have done it. The fact that he didn't have any hair on his body made it difficult. So it just looked... strange. "May I ask whom you have killed, Severus?" His tone was smooth and the tension in the room grew stronger.

"No one, my Lord." I answered honestly and the Dark Lord shook his head in a sad manner.

"But Severus, you know that I do not tolerate lies." What...? Then I saw the evil grin on his face. Oh no.

"_Crucio!_" He cried and then there was pain. Nothing except an unimaginable pain. My eyes saw that I fell to the ground, but my body didn't feel it. The pain was too strong. I didn't know how long he was torturing me. To me, it felt like hours. After some time, I had to close my eyes. The shocked and pale faces which I saw from time to time were too much for me.

Then the pain lessened slowly and I began to hear the noises around me again. My entire body was hurting and it was something I had never felt before. Not like this. I realized that the crowd was still silent, except some people who seemed to be crying. I wanted to search for Hermione, see, if she was okay, but I knew that I couldn't do it. _I won't show the Dark Lord the people I love... _

So I looked at the Dark Lord again and stood up slowly. It was difficult to stand up without stumbling and I had to concentrate on it very much. Finally, I was standing in the middle of the hall again and looked into the eyes of the Dark Lord.

"Severus, Severus." He said in a disappointed tone and shook his head slowly. "We do not want to lie, do we? You know that I do not like it. It makes me angry and seeing me angry is not very nice."

I swallowed. What did he want? "Yes, my Lord." My voice was sounding huskily and I didn't know why. Had I been screaming?

"So now tell me, why are you still here? The last thing I do remember is that I left you in the Shrieking Shack and that you were slowly bleeding to death. And I do not think that Nagini" for half a second, a bewildered expression appeared on his face "made a mistake. She knew how to kill people very well."

There were many surprised exclamations in the crowd, and when I allowed myself to look at some people standing there, I saw shock and also fear in their faces. Minerva covered her mouth with her hands and I thought that there were tears in her eyes. I focused on the Dark Lord again.

"I think that she made a mistake, then." I assumed politely and he narrowed his eyes.

And then he began to laugh. It was a an unendurable and insane sound. I just realized that he raised his wand again, before the pain reappeared.

I was lying on the ground again and the world around me seemed to vanish, but a few seconds after it had begun, everything was over.

"I do not make mistakes!" The Dark Lord cried and with some difficulty, I lifted my head to look at him.

"Everyone makes mistakes, even you, _Riddle_!" A voice cried out of nowhere and suddenly, I had forgotten all the pain.


	13. Chapter 12

**Next chapter! I hope you like it and if you do, please write a review, I can't get enough of them! :) Everything you know isn't mine, but the things which are new to you are my own ideas! **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

Hermione POV

I couldn't feel worse than in this moment. I had already wanted to scream when Severus went into the middle of the circle to talk to Voldemort, but when he began to torture Severus, I nearly broke down. I couldn't hold back my tears and I just wanted to run to him.

I had tried to escape Ron's grip, but it was impossible. He was much stronger than me and I was too troubled to apply much strength. Well, actually it was better that he didn't let me go. It could have made the whole situation worse and that was nothing I wanted.

And now, in the moment when Voldemort was about to kill Severus, someone else appeared on the viewing area and attracted everybody's attention.

Harry's sudden appearance didn't shock me as much as the others. Maybe because I was already too scared. I stopped trying to run to Severus, who was still lying on the floor motionless. Hopefully, he was still alive. What would I do without him?

Then he lifted his head a little bit to see who had spoken. My heart was beating again and I took a deep breath. He wasn't dead.

"I don't want anyone to try to help me." Harry said loudly and looked into the direction of McGonagall, Slughorn and Kingsley, who were about to run towards him. "It's got to be like this. It's got to be me."

Voldemort hissed. "Potter doesn't mean it like that." he answered, his red eyes wide. "That isn't how he works, is it? Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?"

"Nobody!" Harry said simply and I saw the determination in his eyes. This was it. The moment he'd been waiting for so long. The last confrontation between the Dark Lord and the Chosen One. There weren't any Horcruxes left, so they were equal to each other.

I swallowed. Either my best friend or the wizard I hated most in the world would die in a few minutes.

"There are no more Horcruxes. It's just you and me. Neither can live, while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good..." Harry continued and you couldn't miss the hate in Voldemort's face.

"One of us?" He cried and suddenly, he looked at Severus again. "Then here's one person too much in the circle." The coldness in his voice made me shiver. Now Voldemort was calm again and he frowned at the man lying on the floor. "How could we solve this problem?"

"You won't be killing anyone else tonight!" Harry said loudly and Voldemort turned to him again. "Don't you get it? You won't be able to hurt any of them. I was ready to die to stop you from hurting them and-"

"But you are still here! You didn't die!"

"I meant to, and that's important. I've done what my mother did. They're protected from you. Did you notice that none of your spells you put on them was binding? You can't touch them. You don't learn from your mistakes, Riddle, do you?" Wow, I've never seen Harry this courageous.

"_You dare_-" Voldemort was completely furious and I thought that he'd attack Harry right in this moment, but he just looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, I dare. I know things you don't know, Tom Riddle. Many important things. Do you want to hear some, before you make another big mistake? If you do, then _Severus_ should stay in this circle. Here isn't one person too much. Everything's as it should be. Because I think that he can also tell you some stories you never heard before, am I right?" For a few seconds, I was too surprised to follow the events in front of me. He'd called him Severus, not Snape. Even though he hated him. Or did Harry change his mind? I'd have to ask him later.

When my eyes were able to see again, Harry was holding out a hand to Severus und helped him at standing up. Severus leaned on Harry a little bit because the Cruciatus Curse had weakened him, but I was sure that he'd be all right again.

Voldemort had watched the scene in front of him with contempt and it seemed to be difficult for him to just stand there and do nothing. "And what is so important to you? Is it love again?" he scoffed loudly and laughed. "Dumbledore's favourite solution, _love_, which he claimed conquered death and didn't stop him from falling from the Tower anyhow? _Love_, didn't prevent me from killing your Mudblood mother, Potter - and right now nobody except Severus" he spat out the name "is here to help you against me. But why are you here, Severus? I remember you working for me during the past years. At least you were the one who killed Dumbledore and fulfilled many other tasks for me. Some people even said that you were my most faithful servant. Were they all wrong?" The last sentence was nothing more than a whisper, but everyone in the hall was able to hear it. It seemed as if the entire crowd didn't breath and the only sounds came from Harry, Severus and Voldemort.

Severus stopped to lean on Harry and took a step forward. He was standing upright and looked directly into his old master's eyes. "Yes, my Lord." he said loudly and almost everyone in the hall inhaled sharply. I couldn't say if it was in disbelief of surprise. "I was working for Albus Dumbledore since the moment you threatened Lilly Potter. She was the first woman I have ever loved and then you killed her. When you began to think that the prophecy was talking about Harry Potter, I went to Albus and begged him to protect him and his family. I promised to do everything for him and I really meant it. And I never broke the promise. After your return, I told you that I had been at Hogwarts for all those years because I believed that you would come back some day and then a spy would be very useful. But this wasn't true. My biggest wish was that you would be dead forever and I would never have to see you again." There were tears in Severus' eyes and I was crying too. Finally, he'd told Voldemort the truth. One of the most important secrets of our age and one which had influenced many things. I wanted nothing more than to hug Severus, but of course it was impossible. I couldn't just go into the circle. It was too dangerous and I thought that nobody was able to asses Voldemort's feelings right now. Well, except Harry, at least he knew him very well - in a bad way.

"So you betrayed me, Lord Voldemort, because of a woman?"

"You still don't understand it, do you?" Harry asked loudly and took a step forward, too, so that he was standing next to Severus again. "He _loved _my mother more than anything. That's reason enough to change the sides. You biggest weakness is that you don't understand love. You never liked someone very much, did you, Riddle? The people around you were just tools you needed to get more power. Yes, you were charming and could influence others, but that was just a very useful ability, wasn't it?"

For half a second, Voldemort looked confused. But then the angry expression returned and I wasn't sure anymore if I had just imagined it. "_Love _is nothing!" he cried furiously. "It can't do anything, it just makes you weak and vulnerable! Think of Dumbledore, he was weak too. A weak old man who wasn't able to judge people."

"No, he was cleverer than you," Harry contradicted, "a better wizard, a better man."

"I brought about the death of Albus Dumbledore! And you were the one who killed him!" Voldemort pointed at Severus, who paled. I knew that Dumbledore's death still made him feel guilty.

"You thought you were the one who gave the orders to kill him. But you were wrong." Severus words made the whole crowd breathing in deeply. Even if I knew the truth, I couldn't stop myself from joining them.

"_Dumbledore is dead_!" Voldemort hurled the words at Harry as though they would cause him unendurable pain. "His body decays in the marble tomb in the grounds of this castle. I have seen it and he will never return!"

"You are right, he is dead. But he decided how he would die months before it happened. Everything was arranged and he did it with the man you thought was your servant." Harry made a gesture towards Severus and now everyone in the hall was looking at him.

"Albus knew that he would have to die nearly a year before the events on the Tower. And he also knew that you would search for the Elder Wand, which he owned. To prevent you from being able to control the most powerful wand in the world, he decided to die undefeated. Then the power of the wand would vanish and it would not be special anymore. So he asked me to kill him in the right moment. And because I owed this man so much, I agreed."

"But the power of the wand didn't vanish! How can you explain that?" Voldemort asked provocatively and Harry raised his hand like I did in class.

"That's something I could explain." He said modestly and Voldemort seemed to get even more angry. "Dumbledore's last plan didn't work. The Elder Wand recognised a new master before Dumbledore died, someone who never even laid a hand on it. He removed the wand from Dumbledore against his will, without realising what he had done. He never knew that the world's most dangerous wand was belonging to him from that moment."

The tension in the hall was at the peak right now and nobody said a word. Everyone was looking at Harry, Voldemort and Severus, who had taken a few steps to the right, so that he wasn't standing too close to the two men anymore. Our eyes met for a moment and I saw that he was worried.

"The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy." Harry announced loudly and for a moment, there was blank shock in Voldemort's face. But then it vanished again and I wasn't able to interpret his expression anymore.

"And what does it matter? Even if that is right, it does not make any difference. You no longer have the phoenix wand, Potter. It can not save you again and after I have killed you, I am going to search Draco Malfoy..."

"And who says that Draco still is the master of the wand? You are too late, Riddle. You've missed your chance. I got there first. I overpowered Draco weeks ago. I took this wand from him."

He held the hawthorn wand into the air and everyone in the hall was looking at it.

"So now there's only one question left. Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? If it does... I am the true master of the Elder Wand."

Voldemort's red eyes were opened widely and I saw hate in them. Both, Harry and Voldemort, raised their wands and pointed at each other. Then they yelled their spells and two flashes of light, a red and a green one, flew through the air.

"_Expelliarmus_!"

"_Avada Kedavra_!"

When the lights met, they turned into golden flames and I thought that I could feel the heat of them. Then the Elder Wand was torn from Voldemort's hand and it was spinning through the air towards Harry, who caught it with his free hand. Voldemort fell backwards, his red eyes wide in shock, and then he hit the floor. Tom Riddle was dead, defeated by the boy he wanted to kill many years ago, and killed by his own rebounding curse. Now he was lying on the floor in the Entrance Hall, and he didn't look dangerous anymore.

Harry stood a few feet away from him, two wands in his hand, and he stared at his enemy. To me it seemed as if he couldn't really believe what just happened.

The crowd was still silent in shock, but after a few moments, everyone started to cheer and scream and they all ran towards Harry to congratulate him.

But I was heading towards another person right now. And it was Severus Snape.


	14. Chapter 13

**So here's the next chapter! I'm sorry that it took me so long to write it, I hope that I can finish the next one more quickly. Please write a review and tell me if you liked it or not, and if not what I should change. And I would love to get your ideas, too :) Everything you know isn't mine, but the things which are new to you are my own ideas!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13<strong>

Severus POV

I couldn't believe that the Dark Lord was dead. Killed by Harry Potter, Lily's son.

Somehow, I was relieved. Now I didn't have to pretend that I was working for him anymore. Everybody knew the truth about me and my life - that I was Dumbledore's man since the moment the Dark Lord threatened Lily, the woman I loved.

But what would I do now? I was able to start a new life, that was true. What I didn't knew was how to do it. Even though I had been working for Albus Dumbledore the whole time, it would be difficult for other people to trust me. After all, I've done many evil things because the Dark Lord told me so and I had to play my role as convincingly as possible.

And if I would really get another chance in life, could I be happy? What would make me happy? I couldn't say it... but perhaps there was something I would like to have in my new life. A person, to be exact.

And this person was running towards me right now.

Hermione looked shocked and relieved at the same time. Her skin was pale and I knew that she'd been very scared. If it was because of Harry or me I couldn't say. I decided that she had been scared of the thought that Harry could die and the Dark Lord would win the battle.

Hermione wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face on my shoulder. I laid my hands on her back to pull her close and she began to sob. With one hand, I stoked her back.

"It's all right, everyone's okay. It's over. We won. Please don't be sad anymore." I whispered softly into her ear and after a few moments, she began to calm down a little bit.

When Hermione looked at me again, I saw that her eyes were red and there were still some tears on her cheeks. I wiped them away and a smile appeared on her face.

"That's better." I said and smiled back at her. It was a strange feeling.

"You're okay." It seemed to me as if she couldn't really believe it and her eyes filled with tears again. "I thought that he would kill you. When you were lying on the floor motionless I thought-" she began to sob, but it didn't take long until she was able to control herself once more. "I thought you were dead." Now here voice was so faint that I had difficulties at understanding her. The people in the hall were still very loud and excited. "I think that I never was that scared before. I felt like he would be torturing me too."

Oh. That was something I didn't expect.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to suffer because of me." I admitted but Hermione shook her head.

"I know that you didn't have a choice. It was so brave of you to stand there in the middle of the circle and say all those things to him."

I couldn't stop myself from smiling at her. "We all knew that I would have to tell him the truth someday, right? And this was the best moment in the world."

She smiled too. "Indeed. Now everyone knows that you aren't a Death Eater and you gave Harry the time he needed to be ready to defeat Voldemort."

I had already opened my mouth to say something, when a voice behind my back called our names.

"Hermione, Severus, do you want to stand there forever?"

Hermione and I took half a step back, so there was a little distance between us now. I turned around to see Harry walking towards us, a large grin on his face. Hermione, who was standing next to me now, blushed. Our shoulders touched each other.

After a few seconds of silence, Harry began to laugh. He hugged Hermione tightly and now something which I didn't feel for a long time appeared again. Jealousy. I hated the feeling.

After he'd let go of Hermione, Harry turned towards me. "I think that I owe you an apology. I was unfair to you during the last years. If I had known that you wanted to protect me..." He shook his head slowly and an absent expression appeared on his face. Then he sighed. "We can't change it anymore. It's too late. But I am really sorry. And I have to thank you. What you just did was amazing. Not everyone's brave enough to stand face to face to Voldemort and tell him things he won't like."

I shook my head. "You don't have to apologize for that, Harry. I always saw your father when I looked at you and I hated him. That's why I was mean to you, too. But your eyes... you have Lily's eyes, I think you heard that many times before. Albus reminded me of that very often and when he told me all those things about the Horcruxes and the connection between you and the Dark Lord, I began to realize that I was unfair to you. And I think that's why _I _owe you an apology. And I do not think that it was very courageous of me to say all those things to the Dark Lord. The moment in which I had to reveal myself had come and I didn't have a choice. To be honest, I don't want to know that would have happened if I didn't show myself. And I knew that I would have to do it for years. The death was the risk I was willing to take. For your mother. And for you, too."

To my surprise, tears appeared in Harry's eyes and before I could realize what happened, he hugged me. Of course just for a few seconds, but the gesture moved me.

A hoarse laugh escaped Harry's lips and he smiled again.

"Guys..." Hermione whispered, and when I turned to her I saw that she shook her head. Her eyes were also filled with tears.


	15. Chapter 14

**Next chapter! I hope you like it. And thank you for the reviews, they're really great :) Please write more of them, it's motivating. Everything you know isn't mine, but the things which are new to you are my own ideas! **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14<strong>

Hermione POV

It was difficult to believe what I just saw. Harry and Severus hugged each other and it seemed to me as if they wanted to start again. Forget all the hate they had shown during the last years and try to become friends. Incredible...

"Guys..." My eyes were filled with tears and when Severus turned around to look at me, I saw that he was surprised. Of course I had no reason to cry, but the things the two men had said moved me. So I was crying because I was happy and not sad.

Severus wiped away a tear on my right cheek and looked at me anxiously.

"I'm fine." I said quickly and wiped away the other tears. "It's just that... you hated each other." I made a gesture towards Harry, who was also listening to my words. "And now you really want to forget all those things which had happened between the two of you and that's... amazing. It's difficult to believe that you want to try to become friends." I smiled at them.

"Well, sometimes you should try something new, right?" Harry grinned and I had to laugh. It was good to see him happy again. The past weeks we had been all a little tensed.

"I think the last night has changed very much for me." Severus added and looked deeply into my eyes. _I think so, too... _

"Everything's different now." I agreed and a smile appeared on Severus' face. Maybe life could become very nice...

"I am sorry, but I need your attention." A loud voice called and I recognized that it was Professor McGonagall, who seemed to be in the Great Hall. She was using a spell to make her voice sound louder. I shivered. Voldemort had also used such a spell. "Would you please come into the Great Hall? There are many things we must decide."

Most people began to enter the Great Hall, but I didn't move.

"Are you all right?" Severus whispered into my ear, his voice sounding worried.

I nodded slowly. "Yes, it was nothing."

Severus didn't look convinced and before he could say anything else, I grabbed his hand and leaded him into the hall. We sat down at the Gryffindor table, next to Harry and the Weasleys.

The teachers went to their usual places at the end of the hall. Now there was an empty place next to Professor Slughorn. After what had happened in the castle during the last year, nobody could blame Severus for staying here with the others. I touched his hand unobtrusively and he relaxed a little bit.

"I know that this is coming very sudden, but we have do decide what should happen here in the castle. And no, this is not part of the business of the Ministry. Hogwarts has always made it's own decisions and I am sure that Professor Dumbledore would see it like this, too." Professor McGonagall announced and she ignored the protest of some people in the hall, which had appeared during her last sentences.

"This school had been deformed by Voldemort and his followers. Now that they are defeated, we need a new headmaster and many other things have to be decided."

"Isn't it obvious, Minerva?" Professor Flitwick asked and everybody looked at him. "We all know that Dumbledore wanted you to be his successor. You guided the school in the time after his death and if the enemy wouldn't have taken over the castle, you would have become headmistress." He looked at the people sitting on the four tables. "Or is there anybody who wouldn't say that Professor McGonagall should guide the school from now on?"

Silence. Of course everybody wanted her to be headmistress. I also thought that she would do her job very well. She was a strong woman.

"Then it is decided, I think." Professor Sprout smiled and the entire hall started to cheer loudly. Professor McGonagall's cheeks became red.

After a few minutes, it was silent again and everyone turned his attention towards Professor McGonagall once more. While the others had been cheering, she had looked at the other teachers and apparently, she had noticed that someone was missing.

Now her eyes were searching the hall for someone, but it seemed to me as if they weren't successful.

"I think there is someone missing here at the teachers table."

Some people started to whisper and looked around bewilderedly. They didn't find someone who could be meant.

"Where is Professor Snape?" Professor McGonagall asked loudly and now the whispering grew louder.

Severus looked at me insecurely and I smiled encouragingly. I squeezed his hand quickly. "Come on, they won't eat you."

A little smile appeared on his face and he stood up. At this moment, I thought that he was looking very beautiful. It was a pity that he smiled so seldom.

"I am here, Minerva." I heard many people inhaling sharply because his voice wasn't cold and empty of emotions. I had to smile.

Professor McGonagall tried to look strict, but the smile on her face destroyed the image. "Why are you not here with the other teachers, Severus?" she sounded amused and I knew that the victory and the fact, that she was headmistress now, made her happy.

"I do not think that I belong there anymore." Severus answered politely and the smile disappeared from his lips.

"And why do you think that?"

"After all the things which have happened during the last year, I do not think that anyone would want me to teach the students again."

Professor McGonagall crossed her arms. "You are a brave man, Severus Snape." she began loudly, "We have done you wrong at thinking that you were a servant of Voldemort. Nobody wanted to believe Albus when he said that we could trust you. But when you went into the middle of that circle, and said all those things to the man of which we thought that he was your master, you proved that you are on our side. And that we _can_ trust you. And when I think of all the years you have played your role in this game, as you could say, and how convincingly you have done it, I admire you. We were unfair to you and I am sorry for that. I hope you can forgive us and it would be a great honour to have you here, as a teacher, at Hogwarts."

Slowly, Severus began to walk towards Professor McGonagall. When he was standing a few feet away from her, he smiled. And I knew that it wasn't faked. This smile was warm and happy and to me, it showed the man he could have been, if everything would have come in a completely different way. Or maybe the man he could be in the future.

"It would be an honour to teach here again." Severus said to Professor McGonagall and he bowed a little bit, before he turned towards the audience. "Of course just if you want to have me here."

The deafening cheers were the best answer you could get.


	16. Chapter 15

**Next one! I hope you like it and please write a review, they're really motivating :) In one of the next chapters, there'll be more of Severus and Hermione, I promise.  
>Everything you know isn't mine, but the things which are new to you are my own ideas! <strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15<strong>

Hermione POV

A few days after we had decided what should happen in the castle, Harry and I stood at the courtyard and looked into the sky.

"What do you think will happen now?" I asked after many minutes of silence.

"I don't know." Harry answered and I knew that he was honest. During the last days, my best friend had prevented to make many decisions. The hunt and the battle afterwards had been a burden to him, that wasn't a secret. And now many people wanted to know what actually happened when nobody had been able to find us and how we succeeded at killing Voldemort. Of course we didn't answer all those questions. At least there was enough time to tell it someone who could publish it. Later. Not now. It was still difficult to think about the events of the last months.

"Okay, let me ask you another question." I smiled at him. "What do _you_ want to do now?"

Harry didn't stop looking into the sky and I knew that he was trying to find an answer. "To be completely honest, I don't want to go on with school and repeat my last year. I mean, I love Hogwarts. It's my home and the place where I was happy for the first time in my life. All my friends were there and you are like a family to me. But it's difficult to go back when so many terrible things happened here and I can't forget them." He shook his head slowly. "It's just..."

"It's okay, I don't blame you for that." I said softly and he looked into my eyes. "I know how you feel. The previous events are something we'll never forget. They were horrible, you can't deny that."

When I saw the sad expression on his face, I hugged him tightly. "You will always be my best friend, no matter what you're going to do in the future."

After a few minutes of silence, we took a step back again. "And what do you want to do now, Hermione?" Harry asked thoughtfully.

"I want to finish my education and after that, I'll see where my road takes me. I leave me the possibilities. In the last years, we had to decide too many things. Now it's time for a little break, even if it's just a year."

"What about Severus?" _What?_

I frowned. "What about him?" Why did Harry ask this question? I knew that I liked Severus Snape very much, maybe I was even in love with him. But that wasn't Harry's business, right?

"You like him." Now Harry was smiling at me. Didn't I see concern in his eyes?

"Yes, and...?"

"Very much." He raised an eyebrow and I began to feel cold.

"And what's wrong with that?" My voice was shaking and I realized that I shivered.

When he saw my reaction to his words, Harry's smile vanished immediately and he looked rather shocked. "Hermione, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you those things. It's good that you like each other so much, but I am worried about you. I just want you to be careful, okay? You don't deserve to get hurt."

"Do you really think he would hurt me?" I whispered.

After a few moments, Harry shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I know that he's a good man, but others might believe that he wants to harm you."

"And-" I couldn't go on with my sentence, because I heard footsteps behind my back.

Harry and I turned around to look at the person who was walking towards us. It was Ron.

It felt as if my blood was frozen and I knew that I paled.

Ron halted a few feet away from us and he looked very insecure. Since the moment in which he had been yelling at me in the headmaster's office, we didn't talk to each other. It was torturing me, but I wasn't sure if he felt the same way.

"Hey..." Ron began quietly and tried to smile, which looked more like a grimace.

"Hey." Harry answered jauntily and I smiled slightly.

"I want to apologize." Ron was looking at me now and I raised my eyebrows slowly. "I know that I was unfair to you. In the moment when I was yelling at you I was just... upset. And angry. I mean, I thought Harry was going to die and that there wasn't much hope anymore. My brother had died and Remus and Tonks were dead, too. And their son..." He shook his head and for a second, his eyes moved to Harry, who nodded encouragingly. So he knew what had happened in the office. "It was terrible. And when I saw you with Snape I... got jealous. I've liked you for a very long time, you know? Of course I was too shy to say something. I... I always thought that... you liked Harry."

I shook my head slowly. "Harry?" My voice was not more than a whisper, but I didn't care. "He's my best friend, Ron. Like the brother I never had. He's part of my family. I thought you know that." _And that you're part of my family, too..._

I took a deep breath. "I know how you were feeling. Don't think that I wasn't sad, angry or frustrated. The situation wasn't very nice; to be honest, it was one of the worst situations we've ever found ourselves in. And if you believe that the deaths of Fred, Remus and Tonks didn't make me sad, you're wrong. They were also a part of my family. And you belong to it, too. You always will. I'm really sorry that I can't return your feelings, but you're also my best friend and like a brother to me."

Ron had tears in his eyes and I knew that mine were filling with tears, too. "Sometimes you can be really stupid, do you know that?" I asked huskily and he nodded.

"And you are complicated."

Even though tears were running down my cheeks, I had to laugh. "I've heard that many times."

"So you can forgive me?" A little smile had already appeared on Ron's lips and I smiled back at him.

"What should I forgive you?" I asked innocently and before I knew what was happening, Ron hugged me tightly.

"I... can't... breathe...!" I croaked and he let go of me immediately.

"Sorry." He blushed and looked at his feet, while Harry and I began to laugh.

"Not funny!" Ron murmured and our laughter grew louder. After a few seconds, Ron couldn't stand being silent anymore and he started to laugh with us.

"It's good to have you back." I grinned at him and he smiled back at me.

"Indeed. It was really boring without you."

I raised my eyebrows. "Am I this interesting?"

Ron shook his head, a large grin on his face. "No, but I didn't want to search for someone better than you."

"You're hopeless." I shook my head, but didn't stop smiling.

"Why don't we talk about something else?" Harry asked quickly, wanting to prevent a dispute. "What's going on in the castle and in the world?"

"We have a new Minister of Magic." Ron answered immediately and he looked very satisfied.

"Who?" Harry and I asked at the same time, eager to know who it was.

"Kingsley."

"_Kingsley?" _I stared at Ron wide-eyed.

"Yes, and if you don't believe me you just have to go to the castle. He wants to visit us soon. Maybe he's already here."

I could imagine Ron's offended look when Harry and I turned around and ran away without one more word very well.


	17. Chapter 16

**Next chapter! I hope you like it, and please write a review, they're really great and because of them, I get more motivated :) Everything you know isn't mine, but the things which are new to you are my own ideas! **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 16<strong>

Severus POV

The days after they'd told me that I should teach at Hogwarts again, I didn't see Hermione very much. We had to repair many parts of the castle which was really exhausting and lots of students and other people had questions that had to be answered quickly.

Of course they wanted to know what would happen next and if the students would be able to return to Hogwarts for the following year of school (the answer was always yes and after about two times, those questions got really annoying!). But there were also others who wanted me to tell them everything about my life. Why I had been a Death Eater, how I'd changed my mind and what exactly I did for Albus Dumbledore. I didn't tell them anything because I was still too shocked of the previous events.

After some time, the other teachers told me, that these curious people were asking nearly everyone in the school for information about me and that they were very disappointed, when nobody could recount anything. I knew that it was the same about Hermione, Harry and Weasley. Their doings while nobody had been able to find them were still a big secret and they didn't say a word about them. Only a few people - mostly members of the Order - knew what had happened and that the Horcruxes were the reason for the return of the Dark Lord.

In my opinion, it was good that they didn't publish their doings just now. If they would do it, many people would come here to Hogwarts just to look at the Chosen One and the place where the final battle had happened. And right now, there were already too many people in the castle.

Most students had returned and some of their parents helped at rebuilding the castle. The whole Order of the Phoenix was here too, and they were talking about the situation in the magic world very much. Many things had been destroyed by the Dark Lord and his servants and there were still people, who were missing. And of course Muggles had seen things, which shouldn't have appeared to their eyes, so they had to forget them very quickly.

Well, some might ask why the Order was discussing those things at the moment, and not the Ministry of Magic, who technically was responsible for them. But because of the takeover by the Death Eaters, many employees weren't able to work anymore and some had been killed immediately to avoid problems. And then there was the Imperius Curse. Sometimes, it was difficult to break him and when you were successful, the affected people where confused and couldn't do anything for many days. So you could say that the Ministry was nearly empty or too confused to do it's work.

At least there was one positive thing which had happened in the past days. Yesterday, to be exact. We had a new Minister of Magic. And it was Kingsley Shacklebolt, a former member of the Order of the Phoenix and protector of the Prime Minister of the Muggles.

And he was standing in front of me right now.

One of his first doings as Minister of Magic was to visit Hogwarts and see how far we were at rebuilding the castle. And of course he wanted to make sure that everyone was okay and that the Order had made some plans for the future.

"It is good to see you, Minister." Minerva greeted Kingsley friendly and smiled at him. We were standing in the Entrance Hall, together with Filius, Horace, Hagrid, Molly and Arthur Weasley, Bill and Fleur, George, Percy and Neville Longbottom. Except Neville, everyone got through the battle without great injuries. Sometimes, I still felt a strong pain in my body, caused by the Cruciatus Curse of the Dark Lord, but I didn't say a word about it. It would disappear in a few days.

Kingsley grinned at Minerva. "It is good to be back. And why so formal? Don't you know my name anymore, Minerva?"

It seemed to me as if she blushed and she looked to the ground for a few seconds. When she looked up again, the iron expression had returned to her face. She was a very strong woman, that was obvious. "Well, if it pleases you, I say welcome back, Kingsley." Now she was smiling finely at him.

Kingsley laughed loudly. "You will never change, will you?" He grinned and looked at every one of us. When his eyes found me, a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. "Severus." He nodded into my direction. "It's also good to see you here, together with the living. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to thank you anymore. And I do really want to do it. What you have done during the battle was very brave and I know that not many people would have had the courage to do it. You went into the middle of that circle and said all those things to Voldemort, while you were looking directly into his eyes. That's incredible."

I smiled lightly. "Thank you, Kingsley. But I do not think that it was very brave of me or anything like that. I did what had to be done for a long time. The only thing which had been missing was the right moment, and it had appeared during the battle. I know that talking to the Dark Lord and looking at him while doing that wasn't easy, but I had done it several times and so it didn't took too many willpower to walk into the circle. And I had to tell him the truth, that's what I owed Albus. At least once in his life, the Dark Lord should feel what shock and fear are. That these feelings are stronger than he thought they were. That feelings could touch him and that fading out all of them is impossible."

Now all the people in the circle were staring at me in an impressed way. Nobody said a word and I knew that they didn't expect me to think like this.

"Even though you say that it wasn't courageous of you, _I_ think that it was very noble to go into that circle." A voice behind my back said and when I turned around, I saw Hermione, Harry and Ron standing a few meters away from us. Hermione and Harry were smiling at me, while Ron looked a little ashamed. He was thinking of the moment in the headmaster's office, when he had yelled at Hermione because of me. Since then, the two of them hadn't talked to each other, but right now it seemed to me as if they had apologized and that everything was all right again. I had to stop myself from frowning and smiled at them, too.

"And I do thank you for that, Mrs. Granger." I said politely, but I couldn't stop my smile from getting mischievously.

Hermione grinned. "You don't have to thank me, Professor Snape." She made a curtsey.

"Even though you think that it is not necessary, I am grateful for your words." I replied immediately.

"Then be grateful, but don't speak of it anymore. I think now everyone in this hall knows it and we can return to other topics again."

I laughed and first, everyone seemed to be completely confused because of it. But after a few moments, Hermione, Harry and some others began to laugh with me.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione." Kingsley said loudly when the three of them entered the circle. Now Hermione was standing next to me and she smiled widely. It was good to see her happy. "I hope you have recovered from your long journey and the battle. It must have been very exhausting to you."

Ron smiled at him. "Exhausting and nerve-racking." He said and Harry nodded slowly. "Congratulations for your new job. Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister of Magic."

Kingsley began to grin and shrugged. "Someone had to do the job, even though it can be very boring sometimes."

"Of course, otherwise the magic world would have some problems, right?" Hermione interjected. "And what are you doing at the moment?"

Kingsley sighed loudly. "Many things. We have to make the muggles forget that they'd seen giants or wizards or whatever and there are still people missing. And of course some Death Eaters fled before the last part of the battle started and we have to find them. That is difficult, because we don't have enough Aurors and there aren't enough employees at the Ministry in general. We're lost many of them through the takeover by the Death Eaters. But let us speak of something different. What do you three want to do in the future? Now you can do everything you want without having to fear Voldemort and his followers."

"I'm finishing school first." Hermione began. "And after that I have to think of something."

"I don't know." Harry and Ron answered at the same time, and many people in the circle smiled. But didn't Molly look a little angry? Maybe she didn't agree with the plans of her son.

"You don't want to finish school?"

When Harry and Ron hesitated, Kingsley began to grin again. "After all what happened to you during your time here at Hogwarts, I can't blame you for leaving the school." He said honestly and for a few seconds, he thought of something. "Why don't you come to the Ministry?"

Harry's eyes grew wide and Ron stared at Kingsley, his mouth open. "Seriously?" Ron asked, not able to say anything else.

"Yes, why not?"

"You mean, we could be Aurors or something like that? Without any education for it?"

"I think the fact that you killed Voldemort is a good proof for your skills. You could help us at searching the Death Eaters which have fled. We need every helping hand."

I looked at Molly again, who was about to protest. But then Arthur took her hand and squeezed it warningly, so that she didn't say anything. I held back a smile.

"We could really do that?" Harry asked slowly and Kingsley nodded.

"If nobody in this room wants to say something against it." Silence. "Well, then I think yes, you can."

When Harry and Ron began cheer loudly, Neville walked towards Kingsley and they began to talk quietly.

"Do you think that it's a good idea, that they become Aurors?" Hermione asked softly and I shrugged.

"It's their future, isn't it? And to be completely honest, I think that Harry, Ron... and Neville" I added when Neville joined Harry and Ron in their cheering "can do such a job. They're stronger than they seem and after everything they've went through in their lives, the job of an Auror isn't a big challenge anymore."

Hermione smiled and I felt my heart beginning to beat faster. What was she doing to me?

"Nevertheless, I am glad that I can go to school for one more year. Then we can be together more often."

I smiled widely and right now, I wanted nothing more than to kiss her. Which was impossible, because there were many people in the hall. So I just touched her hand quickly, which made me shiver. "I can't wait."


	18. Chapter 17

**Here's the next chapter! I hope you like it and thank you for the reviews, they're really great :) Please write more of them, they make it easier for me to update more often. Everything you know isn't mine, but the things which are new to you are my own ideas!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 17<strong>

Hermione POV

A few hours after we'd talked to Kingsley and the other members of the Order, Harry, Ron, Ginny and I sat in the Gryffindor common room.

"I can't believe that you're going to do that." Ginny said and looked at Harry and Ron, her expression a mixture of excitement and doubt.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked and looked up from the Deluminator. A smile appeared on my face when I thought of the things this little instrument could do, but when my thoughts arrived at the situation in which Rufus Scrimgeour had read out Albus Dumbledore's will to us, it disappeared again.

"You're going to be Aurors." Ginny said simply and now Harry also looked at her. He grinned.

"It's great, isn't it? I mean, I've always wished to be an Auror and now my dream becomes true. And I didn't do anything for it."

"Except killing You-Know-Who." Ron rolled his eyes and I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

"Don't you think that you can say his name now, Ron? Voldemort's dead."

Ron blushed and even his ears became red. "It's pretty difficult to say his real name. When you didn't use it for about seventeen years, it's not easy to overcome yourself."

"Oh, come on!" Ginny growled loudly. "You're going to hunt Death Eaters and stuff like that. I thought you have to be courageous for those things."

I looked at her for a few seconds. "He _is_ brave, Ginny. Even if you don't want to believe it. But while we'd been on the run, he'd proven it many times." Ron smiled at me thankfully and Harry had to smile, too.

"He's one of the bravest persons I know." Harry agreed and Ron blushed again. He was praised very seldom and it made him uncomfortable.

Now we all had to laugh, but after a few seconds, Ginny became silent again. She looked at the two boys thoughtfully. "Do you really think that it's a good idea? Okay, I know that it's dangerous and you have already been in worse situations, so I won't say anything about that. But shouldn't you... learn to do all those things? Normally, they don't just take everyone."

Ron looked at his sister in a confused way. "Ginny, what's happened to you? I don't think that you've ever been this concerned. I thought you like dangerous situations and breaking the rules-"

"She's jealous, Ron." Harry murmured and his best friend's eyes grew wide. He needed a few moments to realize what just had been said, but then a large grin appeared on his face.

I rolled my eyes and stood up slowly. "I think you can discuss those things without me." I said and began to walk towards the portrait hole. "Maybe I can find Luna somewhere in the castle." _Or she's with Neville, which would be logical because they like each other very much._

With these words I left the common room, in which my best friends where looking after me with confused expressions on their faces.

* * *

><p>Of course I didn't search Luna or any other person.<p>

I went towards Severus' office in the dungeons, which was close to the Slytherin common room. I didn't like those corridors, but that wasn't important to me right now. Maybe I could change my mind.

Harry and Ron had described the office many times and if everything they had said would be true, it would be like a torture chamber. A very cold and dark room with many cauldrons and glasses in which you could see indefinable liquids. And if you would speak in there, your voice would resound from every corner of it.

I didn't believe them.

When I arrived at the door, I knocked slowly. I've only been here once and that was in the night in which Snape had killed Dumbledore. I shivered.

Suddenly, the door opened and I took a step back.

A smile appeared on Severus' face when he saw me. "Ah, Mrs. Granger. It's good to see you."

I relaxed at the sound of his voice. "It's good to see you too, _Sir_." I said very politely and smiled back at him. "I hope I don't disturb you and if it's so, I can leave again. You just have to say it."

Severus chuckled softly and took a step back, so that I could enter his office. "Actually, I'm not busy at the moment. And even if there would be things I had to do, they could wait. Because you are more important to me."

I blushed and he held out his hand. I took it shyly and when I entered the room, he closed the door behind me.

I was impressed. You couldn't say it in another way. This room wasn't cold or dark or anything like that. It was a warm office with many bookshelves on the walls and a big table in the middle. On the ground I saw carpets in many different colours - mostly green, turquoise and blue - and there were many paintings on the walls. But there weren't any people in them and that's why they didn't move. They showed big, beautiful landscapes. I saw a big, blue lake under a bright sun; a forest in autumn with yellow and orange foliage on the trees and Hogwarts in winter.

When I turned around again, I saw that Severus was still standing close to the door. His expression was curious, but I also saw fear in his eyes. He wasn't sure if I liked his office, that was obvious.

"It's beautiful in here." I smiled at him and he relaxed. He went towards me, but when there was a distance of two meters between us, he stopped.

"I hoped that you like it." Now he was also smiling and I couldn't believe how handsome he was. The happy expression on his face suited Severus very well. What a pity that his life had been so hard until now.

"I do." I said simply and he laughed.

"So impressed that you can't speak anymore?" He asked sternly, but the gleam in his eyes revealed to me, that he was just acting.

I nodded. "This room is very impressing. I didn't believe that you could find something like this in the dungeons. And it is surprising that it's _your _office which looks this great, Professor Snape. Actually, everyone said that it would be a cold and dark place with torture equipment on the walls. But they also told me, that you are very strict and couldn't laugh or smile. And I don't think that it's true." I sighed theatrically. "They must have been lying to me."

Severus raised his eyebrows, but the grin on his face prevented this gesture from looking bored.

I began to laugh and before I knew what was happening, Severus had wrapped his arms around my waist and his lips were on mine.


	19. Chapter 18

**Here's the next chapter! I know that it's very short, but to me it felt wrong to write anything else here. I promise that the next one will be longer and I hope that you like this chapter, even though it's so short. And thank you for the reviews, they're really great! Please write more of them, it's very motivating :) Everything you know isn't mine, but the things which are new to you are my own ideas!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 18<strong>

Severus POV

When our lips touched, I could feel a tension in my entire body. The blood was racing through my veins and my heart was beating very fast.

Hermione wrapped her arms around my neck to pull me closer and I tightened my grip around her waist. A soft moan escaped her lips and then our tongues met each other. It seemed to be an endless fight and when we finally parted, we were both gasping loudly.

When I looked into her eyes, Hermione blushed and I laughed softly. "Do you know that you are very beautiful?" I asked in a impressed way and her cheeks became even redder.

"No, I'm not." She shook her head slowly. "_You _are beautiful, Severus."

I chuckled. "I'm old and you know that life hasn't been very nice to me. I don't care about my outer appearance because there are always things which are more important. And during my entire life, nobody has told me that I look good."

"But that doesn't mean that you're ugly. You're handsome to me. And I don't care about your age, it's not important." She said and smiled at me.

Right now, I couldn't smile back at her. "Do you really think that the age isn't relevant?" I asked doubtfully and her happy expression disappeared slowly.

"Of course. I fell in love with you because of who you are and such a little detail like the age difference between us can't change anything."

_Fell in love with you_

So she was in love with... me? Hermione Granger, one of the most brilliant witches in the world, was in love with **me**? How could that be possible?

"Or is it a problem to you?" Now her voice was filled with doubt and fear. Her eyes were wide and I saw that she shivered.

I put my hands on her shoulders to comfort her. "No, of course not! How could that be a problem to me? You're brilliant and beautiful and funny and you just... you make me happy. Nobody was successful at that before and I don't want to lose this. I don't want to lose _you_. Because I'm in love with you, if you believe it or not."

Tears appeared in her eyes and Hermione began to sob. I put my arms around her and stroked her back slowly. "You don't have to cry, everything's all right. I'm here and I won't leave you. I promise. You're not going to be alone."

After a few moments, her sobs began to lessen and Hermione was able to look into my eyes again. "I don't cry because I'm sad." She whispered and even though her eyes were red and tears were running down her cheeks, she looked beautiful to me. "I'm just so happy and I... I can't believe what you just said."

I smiled widely and wiped away her tears. "You're impossible, Mrs. Granger." I tried to sound strict, but I wasn't successful. Hermione began to laugh and I joined her.

And after a few seconds, we were kissing each other again. This time, it was a soft and slow kiss, in which be both tried to express our feelings. I wanted to show Hermione how important she was to me and that I would never want to lose her. And how much I loved her. She seemed to think the same and I couldn't say how long we'd just stood there, kissing each other.

"I love you, Severus." Hermione whispered softly and I smiled at her.

"I love you too, Hermione."


	20. Chapter 19

**So here's the next chapter! I'm sorry that it's so short again and that it took me so long to write it, but I don't have much time at the moment. I still need some presents for christmas and I've got to do lots of homework :( But I hope you like it either way. And please write a review, that would be great. If you have some ideas about the things Severus and Hermione could to in the summer, please write a message to me. I'll try to integrate them into the story :) Everything you know isn't mine, but the things which are new to you are my own ideas!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 19<strong>

Hermione POV

I looked at Severus with a large smile on my face. He'd just said that he loved me. I couldn't believe it. Severus Snape, the most brilliant man in the world was in love with me.

"You're amazing." I whispered and he grinned.

"And you don't know how special you are."

I rolled my eyes and Severus began to laugh loudly.

Trying to hide my smile, I turned around and walked towards the table again. The chairs looked very comfortable, so I sat down and crossed my arms. A few seconds after that, Severus sat down next to me. He raised his eyebrows and for a moment he looked like the old Severus - the cold and dark one. I shivered.

"What are we going to do now?" I asked quickly.

"I thought that we would help the others at repairing the castle." I knew that Severus was a little confused. I shook my head and smiled at him.

"Not right now. I mean in the summer. When nobody's in the castle anymore. Well, except the teachers."

Severus frowned and now I raised my eyebrows. To be honest, I had no idea what Severus Snape had been doing during the past summers. Presumably, he'd done something for the Order of the Phoenix and for... Voldemort.

"Normally, I would do what Albus or the Dark Lord ask me to do. Nothing else. There was nothing I could do... I mean, I went to my house at Spinner's End, but there's nothing special. It's pretty boring." A little smile appeared on his face. "What are you doing in the summer?"

"I like to travel together with my parents. And the last two or three weeks I've always spent at the Burrow. It's always been very amusing with Harry, Ron, Ginny and the other Weasleys." I closed my eyes for a few seconds. Should I really tell him the truth? Well, he was in love with me and I loved him, so it would be very good to tell him everything right now. "But this year, I've got to do something different first. And maybe the rest of the holidays could be a little different, too." I winked at him. Then I became sad again. "I've got to search my parents."

Severus looked at me curiously and I couldn't blame him for that. What I just said sounded strange.

"I don't know where they are. And they don't know that I exist." I admitted and looked at my hands.

"Why is that?" Severus whispered and took my hands. I was grateful for that.

"I did it before we left the Burrow to search the Horcruxes. I wanted to protect them from Voldemort and the Death Eaters and I thought that... making them forget everything about the magic world would be a very good idea. I mean, how can you find two muggles who don't know anything about magic anymore?"

"That was very clever, indeed. But how do you want to find them now? Have you any idea where they could be?"

I nodded slowly. "I made them believe that their biggest wish was to go to Australia. And I know their new names, so it shouldn't be too complicated to find them." I noticed the hopeful tone in my voice, but I couldn't make it disappear. Of course I was afraid. Who wouldn't feel bad if their parents didn't remember them? "The real problem will be to reverse my spell. It was the first time I did something like that and I'm not sure if it can be undone."

"Maybe I can help you." Severus offered and I shook my head.

"I don't think that it would be a good idea. If the spell can really be reversed, they wouldn't be happy to see you. I mean, I told them very much about Hogwarts and I mentioned that you aren't... very nice." I blushed and Severus chuckled softly. With his right hand, he touched my cheek and I closed my eyes. Every time we touched, there was a tension between the two of us and it drove me crazy.

"So you don't want me to come with you." He sounded disappointed and I sighed.

"It's not like that. Of course I want you to go with me. But finding my parents and bringing them back to London won't be very nice." I opened my eyes again and looked at him. "I would like to spent some time with you, alone."

Now he looked surprised and I couldn't stop myself from smiling widely.

"I love you, remember?" I kissed him quickly and he grinned.

"I think this will be a very nice summer."

"Of course, it will be great! And the following summers will be awesome, too."

"And after you've found them, I'll meet your parents?"

_Oh shit._


	21. Chapter 20

**Next chapter! And please don't ask me why I wrote it, I don't know it either :D I hope you like it and please tell me if you want Draco to appear again in this story. Your reviews have been great, they were very motivating. I don't own the characters, but the plot of this story.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 20<strong>

Draco POV

It was strange to return to Hogwarts after the battle, in which I had fought on the wrong side.

Well, partly. I had stopped to fight for the Dark Lord, after Potter and his friends had saved my life in the Room of Requirement, the place where Crabbe had died. It had been stupid to use the Fiendfyre, but nobody had been able to prevent him from doing it.

Nevertheless, this wasn't the reason why I had changed the sides. When the Dark Lord instructed me to kill Albus Dumbledore at the beginning of my sixth year at Hogwarts, I began to feel uncomfortable. I knew that it was an honour to get the task, but somehow I knew that I wouldn't be able to do it. I began to have nightmares and after some time, I didn't sleep anymore. When I was alone, I cried and a ghost was the only one who could comfort me because nobody should know of my mission or my weakness.

And then there was Snape. The favourite of the Dark Lord and the person who was spying on Dumbledore. At least we thought that. He offered me his help many times, but of course I didn't accept it. I had to do it alone, no matter what it would cost me.

I didn't do it.

This was still bothering me and when I saw Snape after the events on the tower, I felt ashamed. I didn't show it openly, but I started to hate the man more and more.

Maybe that was also a reason why I didn't want to fight for the Dark Arts anymore.

And because of that, I froze when I saw him standing in front of the castle when I returned. He was wearing his usual clothes, a black cloak, but even though there was something different about him. Was he looking... happier? I couldn't tell. That feeling was strange to me.

Suddenly, I realized that I had fled from the fight against the Dark Lord. I changed the sides, that was true, but did anybody notice that? Or did they just think that I was afraid and didn't want to fight anymore?

Now there was a distance of about five meters between Snape and me. I knew that I looked shocked, so I forced myself to look at my old teacher coldly.

"It's good to see you again, Draco." Snape said and took two steps into my direction. He wasn't that pale anymore.

"What do you want?" I asked coldly and raised my eyebrows.

"I just wanted to welcome you at the castle. Is there something wrong about that?"

"I don't want anyone to welcome me. This isn't _my_ school anymore." I spat and looked at him angrily.

"Then I see no reason for you to be here." Snape's tone was still calm, as if he was talking to a stranger. Not friendly, but also not cold. Just... curious.

"That's none of your business."

"Oh, I think you're wrong. As the Head of Slytherin, one of Hogwarts' houses, I am authorized to ask questions. And because Slytherin was _your_ House for many years, it's also my business."

I laughed coldly. "Slughorn's the Head of Slytherin, not you!"

Now a smile appeared on Snape's face. But it wasn't the cold smile which had been usual for him. This smile was... amused. What the hell?

"Maybe he didn't want that job anymore. Who knows?"

I shook my head. "That doesn't matter right now!" I growled loudly. "I don't have to tell you why I'm here."

To my surprise, Snape stayed calm and the smile didn't leave his face. What had happened to the man who had been feared by so many students?

"If you don't tell me about your plans right now, I'll get to know them later from the other teachers. So you can also be honest. I know that you stopped fighting for the Dark Lord during the battle. And it's no secret that you have always been uncomfortable with the idea of having to kill Albus. You think that you belong to us right now. But if that would be the truth, there's one question left to be asked. Why didn't you fight against the Death Eaters after everyone thought that Harry Potter was dead? You ran away with your parents, they wanted you to and of course you followed their orders. What do you have to say now? And don't lie to me, I'm really curious."

Why the hell was he right? Maybe because he knew me since my first year at Hogwarts, or because he was good at occlumency. I had to answer the question quickly. If I wouldn't do it, he would think that I didn't have a plan. So I said the only thing which came into my mind right now.

"I had to find my parents first, that was more important to me. They didn't have wands."

Snape chuckled. "We both know that your parents aren't that important to you, Draco."

I wanted to sigh. This man couldn't be tricked, right? But saying 'I did it because I thought that it was right' sounded stupid to me. How could I solve this problem right now and get into the castle?

But wait!

What did I want to do once I had entered Hogwarts? I had hoped that nobody would ask questions and that I could just... do what? Help them at rebuilding the destroyed parts of the castle? Talk to anyone again? _Apologize for my behaviour?_

Snape took another step into my direction. "You wanted to help, right? Even though you won't accept it. I know that those feelings are strange to you, Draco. Believe me. Many years ago, I had felt the same."

I shook my head slowly. "You don't understand anything." I whispered, turned around, and left.


	22. Chapter 21

**The next chapter! I hope you like it and please write a review, they're really motivating. If you have any ideas for this story, you don't have to keep them from me :D I own the plot, not the characters!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 21<strong>

Severus POV

After Draco had left, I began to walk towards the castle again.

I couldn't stop thinking about his behaviour. He seemed so insecure and also a little confused. This was very unusual for Draco because he wanted everyone to think that he was so strong and courageous. What had happened to the boy?

The Dark Lord, you couldn't deny that. He had given him a task which was far too difficult for him and Draco wasn't able to manage it. He nearly broke down. All of his attempts to kill Albus hadn't been successful and then I offered him my help, which made everything even worse.

In the end, I had to kill Albus instead of Draco - which had been planned, of course - and that wasn't good for the boy's popularity among the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord. And then there was the fact that many people began to dislike Lucius and Narcissa, too.

So it wasn't a very big surprise that they didn't want to fight for the Dark Lord anymore, at least not to the people who knew the entire story. I also wasn't surprised when they just left Hogwarts instead of fighting against their former allies. It could have ended very bad for them.

But I was astonished, when Draco returned to the castle, without having a reason for it. Because he didn't have one, that was obvious.

He didn't come back to see any of his friends. They had all left Hogwarts forever and nobody thought that they would come back someday.

I also didn't think that he wanted to see the castle again. Draco had never liked the building very much, at least he had said it about three times a day for six years.

So was there someone else he wanted to see again? Improbable.

Or did he really want to help us at repairing the broken parts of the castle?

I shook my head slowly and turned around again. It was a cloudy day, but there was no wind and it didn't rain. I liked these days. They always reminded me of the past.

Why did Draco return to Hogwarts? Could he really have become a good person? It was possible, I was the best example for that. But if it would be true, how did it happen? Hermione had told me that he had stopped fighting after they'd saved him from the Room of Requirement. I knew what had happened in there. Was it bad enough to change a person's way of thinking? Or did he start to change much earlier, maybe when he was still at Hogwarts?

I couldn't say.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds and enjoyed the silence.

Somehow, I had to help Draco. He was alone and didn't have anyone to help him at making decisions. Lucius and Narcissa had always told their son what he had to do and I knew that they wouldn't stop doing that.

Maybe I could show him the important things in this world. Would he trust me? Probably not. At least I'd been a spy for many years. Well, then I had to find someone else to help Draco. But who could that be? Nobody in his age, of course. Maybe one of the other teachers? Would he trust them?

I shook my head again. No, he wouldn't. I knew the boy.

And who was left? Members of the Order? Witches or Wizards he didn't know? Talking with strangers about your problems didn't sound very nice, even I had to admit it.

So it had to be me. But how could I win Draco's trust?

* * *

><p><span>Draco POV<span>

It had been stupid to go to Hogwarts! I had always known it. Going there without a reason had been idiotic. But meeting Snape there was even worse!

He'd changed very much since the Dark Lord had been killed. Now he was so... nice and happy. So _wrong._

I had admired him because he'd been strict and cold-hearted. He'd punished the people I didn't like and preferred us, the Slytherins. He'd been the perfect teacher. Without any disturbing emotions or something like that.

But now? He was weak. Feelings made you weak. And friends.

I closed my eyes for a moment and breathed in deeply.

Was it really like that? Did feelings made you weak and vulnerable?

Slowly, I shook my head. I had to control my anger. Just because I had wanted to see the old Snape there and I had been disappointed, I had no right to be mad at him.

Maybe he could help me, if I would let him in. Talking about all my problems could make everything better. And perhaps, I would get another chance. Then I could start again.

That sounded very good.

I opened my eyes again. Yes, I would go to Hogwarts again. There, I would talk to Snape and ask him if he wanted to help me.


	23. Chapter 22

**The next chapter! I'm sorry that I didn't write for so long, but first I was ill and then my entire family was here at Christmas, so there wasn't much time. I hope you can forgive me and it would be very nice if you write a review to this chapter. Maybe you have some ideas for the next meeting with Draco? :) The characters belong to J.K. Rowling, the plot is mine! **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 22<strong>

Hermione POV

I was sitting in the Gryffindor common room together with Harry, Ron and Ginny. Normally, the year at Hogwarts would be over in three days, but after the fight nobody thought about teaching and learning. First, we had to rebuild the castle.

"It's strange, isn't it?" Ron asked and I looked at him questioningly. "Being here, I mean. After everything that happened..."

"Oh, yeah." I nodded slowly. "I think you're right. The past months have been pretty..."

"Troublesome?" Harry tried to help me with a smile.

"Troublesome." I agreed and grinned at my best friend.

Ginny looked at Harry and Ron thoughtfully. "I don't like the idea of you being Aurors." she murmured. "The next year is going to be boring without you!"

As I saw the expression on her face, I had to laugh. Harry and Ron joined me immediately. "You'll survive it, Ginny. Even though your boyfriend isn't here." Ron tried to rumple Ginny's hair, but she was faster. She jumped to her feet and before her brother knew what happened, Ginny stood on the other side of the room, grinning triumphantly - which made Harry and me laugh even louder.

"Could you please shut up? This isn't funny!" Ron growled and Harry and I tried to look at him apologetically. Apparently, it didn't work because he stood up and left the common room angrily.

"Ups, we didn't want him to go, did we?" Ginny asked, grinning gloatingly.

Harry shook his head, but the smile didn't leave his face. "You like doing that, right?"

She sat down on his lap. "Maybe." she whispered and leaned in to kiss him.

I stood up slowly and turned around to leave the common room, too. Maybe I could find Severus or go to the library. I hadn't been in there for months. The last time I had entered the room was after Dumbledore had died, to search information about the Horcruxes. Of course there hadn't been any books about them. After all they were forbidden because it was very dark and cruel magic.

I shivered and hoped that I would never have to hear anything about them again. They had already caused enough trouble.

I didn't know where I was going, until I realized that I was standing in the entrance hall. The place where Harry had killed Voldemort and everything had ended. Where should I go now? I didn't know the answer to that question, so I decided to leave the castle for some time. And then I saw Severus on the courtyard and a smile appeared on my face.

He seemed to be lost in thought and I knew that something was bothering him. What could have happened?

When he saw me, the concerned look on his face disappeared and he looked very relieved.

"Ah, Hermione. It's good to see you." Severus said with a smile and touched my hand quickly. It wasn't wise to show our relationship openly. Not as long as I was still a student at Hogwarts and we were in the castle.

"Severus." I nodded and looked at him questioningly. "What happened to you? You look worried."

Now the smile vanished immediately and he shook his head in a distressed way. "It's impossible to hide anything from you, is it?"

I shook my head. "I'm a very attentive person. And besides, I want to help you. I don't like it when something bothers you. I love you, you know?" The last sentence was just a whisper and I smiled softly at Severus.

"I love you, too." he whispered back and for a second, his smile reappeared. "Come, let us go for a walk." He turned towards the lake and I followed him quickly. We walked in silence for a few minutes and I knew that he didn't say anything because there were many people watching us. I couldn't blame him for that.

"Draco returned to the castle."

I looked at him wide-eyed. "Draco? Why would he come back? I mean, he and his parents fled from the final battle."

"I don't think that he knew why he'd returned." Severus sighed and looked into the sky for a few seconds. "That's the problem. I tried to make him trust me, but it was impossible. He's very confused at the moment."

"He doesn't trust anyone, right?" I asked and tried to understand the way Draco was feeling right now.

"No, and it will be difficult to win his trust. But that's what I have to do. Somebody has to help him or the boy will cause much trouble. His parents already try to influence him. Luckily he doesn't know what to think about that."

"Why did he come to the castle? If he doesn't want to talk to anyone..."

"I'm not sure if he really wanted to talk about his problems. Maybe he just wanted to see other people than his parents. Or he hoped that there would be someone who could understand him."

"And he left because he met you." I murmured and looked at Severus thoughtfully. "Seems as if you scared him."

Severus nodded. "In that moment, I was the last person he wanted to see. At least I betrayed the Dark Lord and worked for Dumbledore."

I looked towards the lake and tried to organize my thoughts. How could we make Draco trust us? That would be very difficult. One wrong word could make everything worse...

"We'll have to wait until he comes back freely." Severus whispered, also lost in thought. "If we go to him, he won't say anything. It would just make him even more angry than he already is. And if he really returns to Hogwarts, I should be the one who talks to him. Too many people could make him nervous and that would be a problem, too..."

I nodded slowly. "What will you say to him?"

"I don't know. I have to improvise."

"I hope we can help him." I admitted and looked at my feet. "After we had saved him from the fire in the Room of Requirement, he had looked so insecure and kind of... lonely. It seemed to me as if he didn't know what to do at all."

"Hermione?" Severus whispered and when I looked at him again, his face was very close to mine. "You don't have to be ashamed for those thoughts. I'm worried about him, too. Nobody deserves to be alone. I understand you very well."

Our lips touched for half a second and a smile appeared on my face. "Thank you, Severus."

"I love you." he answered simply and my smile grew wider. After a few moments of silence, I had an idea.

"Would you like to spent a few weeks of the summer with me?"


	24. Chapter 23

**Here's the next chapter! I hope you like it and please write a review. I still need some ideas for Severus and Hermione during the summer holidays :) I don't own the characters, but the plot of this story!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 23<strong>

Severus POV

It was a warm and sunny morning.

The grounds were bathed in sunlight, which was also reflected by the lake. Everything was... peaceful. Peaceful and maybe a little sad. I shook my head with a smile. I couldn't believe that I thought that the atmosphere at Hogwarts was sad at the moment.

Everything had changed during the past month. And I had also changed, nearly everyone told me so. They said that I was more happy and less cold. I agreed with those statements.

The school year was officially over and the students - among them also Hermione and her friends - had left the castle a few hours ago. Nobody had been too sad when it was time to say goodbye. We wouldn't be separated for a long time, at least not since I had agreed to spent a few weeks of the summer with Hermione and visit the Burrow for a few times.

Hermione...

A wide smile appeared on my face when I thought of the girl I loved. It still surprised me that she was loving me back. Now thinking of Lily wasn't painful anymore. Of course somehow, I still loved her, but my feelings for Hermione were different. So much... stronger.

Even though Hermione and Lily had a lot in common, they were very different from each other. I closed my eyes for a few seconds. I knew that Lily would have been happy for me. She had always wanted me to be happy and right now, her wish had become true.

I was in love with the most brilliant and beautiful woman in the world. Who had saved my life in more than one way.

I opened my eyes slowly. _In more than one way..._ She hadn't just saved my life, Hermione had also given me hope for the future. No, that wasn't correct. She had shown me that there still was a future, even for me.

I hadn't realized that I had expected to die in the battle against the Dark Lord, not until I had survived it.

And now I was here, at Hogwarts and I wasn't alone anymore. I had found my soul mate, if you could say it like that. I had a future. There was hope again.

Without stopping to smile, I turned around and walked towards the castle. It was looking beautiful in the sunlight. Why had I never realized that Hogwarts was a very special place? It seemed to me as if I'd been blind my entire life.

* * *

><p>I hadn't expected a visitor.<p>

But that couldn't change the fact that someone was standing in the shadow of the castle and watched me observantly.

"Good morning, Draco." I greeted him with a smile and he didn't look angry. A little improvement to our last meeting.

"Good morning... Professor." Draco Malfoy said hesitantly and I began to hope that it would be possible to talk to him right now.

"What are you doing at Hogwarts on this beautiful morning?"

"I want to talk to you, if that's all right." He was speaking quietly and this time, my kindness didn't seem to confuse him.

"Why don't we go to my office?" I asked in a friendly tone and Draco nodded haltingly.

We didn't meet anyone on the way to my office and I knew that the boy was happy about that. He was still very confused, but I couldn't blame him for that. He was having a hard time right now.

After we'd entered my office, Draco looked around in amazement. "It looks so... different." he murmured and I nodded with a smile.

"It was getting boring."

The boy shook his head. "I don't think that it's true. It's not just the office, you've also changed. You're much... more friendly and you seem to be happy." He sighed. "I have to apologize for the things I said to you during our last meeting. I was very angry and I didn't think about the things I was saying. I was..."

"Stupid?" I tried to help him at finding the correct word. First, he looked at me wide-eyed and I knew that he couldn't believe that I had just said that. But when he saw my expression - which had to be very amused - he relaxed again and nodded.

"I was very stupid and I'm sorry for that."

I nodded slowly. "Please have a seat." I said friendly and Draco sat down quickly. "You don't have to apologize for the things you've said. I know that it's not easy for you at the moment. Being captured between two different world views is terrible. I've been in that situation for many years and even though I did it freely and I knew to which side I belonged, it was very difficult. Sometimes I thought that it would break me."

For a few moments, Draco was just looking at me with a surprised expression on his face. He hadn't expected that I would tell him so many things about myself and to be completely honest, I wouldn't have done it a few weeks ago. Everything was very different now, it wasn't difficult to see that.

"I don't know what I should do now." Draco admitted and I saw that he was ashamed. I also sat down and looked at him for a few seconds.

"Why did you stop fighting for the Dark Lord?"

He frowned. "Why do you want to know that?"

"We have to find out to which side you belong." I explained and Draco nodded slowly.

"I didn't want to fight anymore because..." He looked down at his hands and I knew that he was ashamed.

"You can tell me everything, I won't make fun of you." I promised and somehow, I had convinced him of my honesty.

"It seemed wrong to me. All the wounded and dead people..." He shook his head in disgust. "I couldn't stand it. It was too much for me. I just wanted to... help these people. I didn't knew why, of course, but somehow... it seemed right to me."

I nodded and smiled reassuringly. "So you don't like hurting people."

"No, apparently not. My entire life I had thought that the Dark Arts were very impressing and that there wouldn't be anything more exciting than being a Death Eater like my parents, but I was wrong. When I finally was a Death Eater, I didn't like it. I didn't want to kill Dumbledore, even though I had never liked him very much. It was just... wrong."

"You're not like your parents." I murmured thoughtfully. "You have continued to try to kill Dumbledore because you didn't want to get hurt or killed, not because the task was a great honour to you. Lucius and Narcissa always did what he wanted because they wanted to please the Dark Lord. There's only one thing you have in common. The fear of pain and death."

"You want to say that I'm spinelessly?" Now Draco sounded angry and I shook my head quickly.

"I think it was very brave to stop fighting for the Dark Lord."

"But you just said that..."

"I said that you and your parents don't want to risk your lives." I interrupted him quickly. "I never thought that you were weak."

After a few seconds of silence, Draco nodded satisfied. "So what am I going to do now?"

I looked at him for a few moments, until I answered the question. "Maybe you could start a new life. Everything would be different then and you could have a better future."

"And how am I going to do that?"

"Why don't we start with another year at Hogwarts?" I asked with a smile.


	25. Chapter 24

**Here's the next chapter! I hope you like it and thank you for the reviews, they were really great! Please write more of them, it's very motivating :) I don't own the characters, but the plot of this story!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 24<strong>

Hermione POV

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Harry asked and looked at me doubtfully. It had to be the seventh time he was asking that question and it began to get really annoying.

"Yes, of course. I have to do it alone. There's no other way."

"But-"

"No, Harry. You know that I can find them."

"And will you be able to give them their memories back?" Ron, who was standing next to Harry with crossed arms, asked.

"I hope so. I know the spell and when it works everything will be all right again." My voice didn't sound as steady as I wanted, so I just sighed. "You have to understand this. You _can't _come with me!"

"But if it doesn't work you're alone and there's nobody to cheer you up again. It would be really cruel of us to let you go to Australia alone."

I shook my head slowly. "That won't be necessary. It'll work, I know it."

"What if-"

"Ron." Harry looked at his best friend warningly. "I think we should let her go. We've got no right to forbid her anything. You don't have to worry about her."

They were staring at each other for a few seconds, until Ron finally gave up. He sighed loudly and rolled his eyes.

I knew that they were disappointed because I wanted to search my parents alone, but it had to be like this. I was responsible for their loss of memory and now I had to countermand the spell I had used. I had looked through many books in the library and it wasn't very difficult to find something about the spell I had used. There were two ways to reverse it and I had learned them by heart, so the book I was carrying in my bag was unnecessary.

"Thank you." I whispered and smiled at Harry. He hugged me tightly and Ron did the same.

"I know you can do that." Harry grinned and Ron nodded.

"Good luck. I mean... it won't be a problem for you. Ouch, Harry! Okay, please come back quickly, we'll miss you, Hermione."

I couldn't stop myself from laughing and Harry joined me immediately.

"Hey, that isn't funny!" Ron growled and touched the spot on which Harry had hit him carefully.

"Oh, it is!" Harry and I said at the same time. Then he blinked at me and began to run towards the Burrow as fast as he could, Ron was following him very quickly.

I shook my head slowly and looked at the home of the Weasley's for a few moments. It was also my home. During the last years, many things had happened here and I had been... happy. I hoped that this wouldn't change.

With a smile, I disapparated.

* * *

><p>It wasn't difficult to find my parents.<p>

They had done exactly what I had told them and I was glad about that. So I didn't have to search them for a long time.

They were living in a small, white house which looked similar to our one in Britain. The only thing missing were the big trees. They had many flowers in their garden and they were really beautiful, but this didn't remind me of my parents. My mum had loved big, old trees and sitting in their shadow. That was also the reason why we had been in so many forests during my summer holidays.

I sighed and shook my head slowly. I had to stop thinking of the old times, that would disturb me. I had to concentrate. Otherwise, they would stay Monica and Wendell Wilkins forever and...

I had to stop thinking of that, so I began to walk towards the house. I didn't know exactly how they would react when I was knocking on their door, but that wasn't important to me right now. I just wanted my parents back.

I had a simple and very stupid plan: knock on their door and ask if you can use their telephone.

If they hadn't changed too much, they would help me. My parents would have done it. René and Phil Granger had always been very friendly and helpful people. Maybe they hadn't forgotten everything about themselves. I had never used a spell like that before, so it couldn't be that strong. At least that's what I hoped.

The doorbell seemed to be very loud because I could hear it outside of the house, too. I took a deep breath and tried to look as desperate as possible.

And then my mum opened the door and for a second, I forgot what I wanted to say.

She didn't change at all. Her green eyes looked at me surprised, her skin was still very pale and her long, dark brown hair was as beautiful as always.

"Oh hello, what can I do for you?" My mum sounded very surprised and I couldn't blame her for that. It didn't happen very often that someone was knocking on your door, even though you didn't expect anyone.

"Um, hi. I'm so sorry that I have to disturb you, but I have a question. It's very urgent." It wasn't difficult to look as if I was about to cry. "I was here with a few of my friends, but somehow, I lost them. Now I'm all alone and I think they have my cell phone. I don't know what to do anymore. Could I please use your telephone? I don't want to be here alone when it gets dark..." My sob wasn't faked. I hadn't believed that it would be so hard to see my mother again when she didn't recognize me.

"You don't have to cry. Of course you can use our telephone, that's no problem. Please, come in. You'll find your friends again, everything's going to be all right."

_Everything's going to be all right... _How often she had used these words to comfort me... I took a deep breath and tried to calm down a little bit. I hoped they would leave me alone so that I could "call" my friends without someone listening to me. It wouldn't be good if they saw my wand before they remembered everything again.

"Who was that, René?" My father asked from the living room (at least I heard a TV which seemed to be close to him) and I heard footsteps coming towards us.

"This young lady needs our help. She's lost her friends and they have her cell phone, so she can't call them. I offered her to use our telephone."

My dad smiled reassuringly. "Of course you can call your friends. That won't be a problem. I don't think that you have to worry."

I smiled shyly and nodded. "Thank you, Sir." I wasn't able to speak very loud, but René and Phil thought that it was because of my friends. I was very glad about that.

My mum guided me to the telephone, which was in the kitchen. She was smiling at me. "I'll leave you alone, all right?"

I nodded. "Thank you very much."

"No problem."

She went towards the living room and I closed my eyes for a few moments. This was it. I couldn't allow myself to make a mistake. My hands were shaking and I took a deep breath again.

_"You can do it. Just stay calm and concentrate on the spell. Then nothing can go wrong. I believe in you." _I head Severus' voice in my head and I relaxed immediately. He had said those sentences many times and I knew that he had meant it.

When I opened my eyes again, I was determined to get my parents back.

I sneaked towards the living room as quietly as I could and I hoped that they wouldn't hear or see me.

Luckily, they were sitting on the couch and watched a cooking show. A little smile appeared on my lips. My dad loved those shows.

I raised my wand slowly and whispered the spell I had repeated silently for so many times.

For a few seconds, nothing happened.

Then my parents looked at each other; the cooking show was forgotten.

"René?" My had asked and I couldn't breathe for a few seconds. "Where are we?" His voice was shocked and I could imagine his expression very well.

"I don't know, Phil. This is... strange. Why aren't we at home anymore? And why do I have to think of Australia so much?"

I cleared my throat loudly. "Maybe I could explain that to you, Mum." I said and walked into the room.


End file.
